Pete Powell's Life as a Pony, and Beyond

Chapters

"He was a BLANK FLANK TOO?!"
Lost Time
Surprising Arrival
The Move
Life Goes On
And Then You Die
Epilouge, Act 1
Act 2
Showdown
Revival
At the Gala?
Confession
Moonlight Confessions
Coup
A Princess' Plea
Final Epilogue
To the rescue?
The First Return
Decisions, decisions

"He was a BLANK FLANK TOO?!"

Pete awoke to the sound of a familiar voice telling a familiar tale. The mane six, plus Spike and Celestia, were sitting around a fire. Spike was regaling the group about his own exploits in Canterlot, now that Chrysalis' plan had been thwarted. No thanks to Pete, who couldn't even remember what had happened after he arrived in the Changeling controlled territory. He recalled being surrounded by Changelings, and a sudden splitting headache. After that, nothing.

Spike was still mid story so, deciding not to overshadow the little guy's triumphant moment, Pete continued to lay there, eyes closed. Draped over his flank and lower back was a wing, and a familiar scent drifted to his nostrils from beside him. A gentle smile crossed his face as he realized that no matter what happened he could always pick Rainbow Dash out of a crowd. Even if he was completely blind, which he had been before, her typical scent of fresh rain was completely unique to him. Snuggled close to his lover, Pete listened to Spike's tale about fending off beasts in Canterlot, making Pete feel stupid. The odds had always been with the Elements of Harmony to succeed, he should have stayed in Canterlot to deal with the attacks he SHOULD have known about.

“So, what happened with you all, Twilight?” the small dragon asked.

Twilight gave a summary of the events that Pete had been just hours behind the whole way, “Then when I faced Chrysalis something happened. My magic got really powerful thanks to the Secretariat. ...but something else happened too.”

“Something else?” Celestia asked.

“Yes. Pete arrived towards the end, but something was off. He was casting dark magic, like Sombra did,” Twilight's voice was concerned, and afraid.

“Who's Sombra?” Dash asked, her voice almost next to Pete's ear.

“He was an evil monarch in the Crystal Empire a long time ago. The other Elements aided in his defeat while you were still in the human world,” Celestia explained.

“I barely have a grasp on normal magic,” Pete said, revealing his state of alertness, “So where in Tartarus did I pick up dark magic?”

There was a general shout of alarm from the others, except Celestia who simply continued with, “I'm not sure. Perhaps it had something to do with the special astronomical event this evening.”

“Okay, hold up a second,” Scootaloo shouted from the other side of the fire, “Before we go on with how this guy knows evil spells, why is Rainbow Dash draping her wing over him?! I mean that's...”

“It's what?” Applebloom questioned her friend.

“When a pegasus does it, it typically denotes a very close bond with the other creature.”

“Oh!” two thirds of the Cutie Mark Crusaders exclaimed at Celestia's explanation, “So that means that's her special somepony?” Sweetie Belle asked the monarch.

“I don't buy it,” Scootaloo said, as she walked over to the couple, “I've never seen him before in Ponyville, so where did they meet? How long have they been together? And what sort of name is 'Pete?'”

“Well, there's a Pony Joe in Canterlot,” Pete said, “That doesn't seem like the average pony name.”

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle chimed in, “And if he knows somepony in Canterlot, maybe he's from there, and Rainbow Dash goes there all the time with the others.”

The Elements of Harmony looked at each other worriedly, then to Celestia. The Princess of the Sun thought on the issue at hoof. It was possible that the fillies would become distrustful of Pete were they to learn his human origins, however, it was also possible they wouldn't care at all. Then of course it was possible they might let something slip one day and reveal Pete's origin to somepony who WAS against humans, even if the girls themselves weren't. Ultimately, she decided that there were things they needed to discuss, and it might end up more difficult to hide the truth than it would be to tell them outright. Better to trust the CMC now than have them expose something on purpose later because of unanswered questions from this moment.

“Pete's tale is a strange one young fillies, and it goes back several months ago.”

“How many months?” Applebloom asked.

“Over half a year now actually.”

“Wait, this isn't around when y'all went missing in the human world, is it?”

“Yes. Pete is the human that we first met, the one that saw to our basic necessities for an entire month, saved Rainbow Dash's life, and then sheltered her for another five years when she jumped back through the portal.”

“She was only gone five months,” Scootaloo retorted with an eye roll.

“Yes, but time flows differently between different realities,” Celestia explained.

“Ya know,” Applejack said, rubbing her chin with a hoof, “I guess some things must have really happened between you two. I knew you were passionate about stuff, Dash, but I don't think I've ever seen you so open about it like this.”

The rainbow maned pegasus about opened her mouth to retort, but there was no fire in it. She slowly looked down at the stallion under her wing. Even though she knew he was awake he looked peaceful where he was, eyes closed, and a faint smile. She couldn't rebuke her friend because the farm pony was right. Five years was a long time, and while she didn't always show it, she had grown in that time. Pegasi age slower than humans, so while she was 21, she would be that way for a long time. Pete on the other hoof was 32, even now, though his unicorn magic would slow his aging down even further than her innate pegasus ones did, and when you hang around with someone for so long you act like them from time to time. And one sentiment she now echoed from her time in his world was his promise to her, that he would do his best to keep her safe and happy for as long as possible, no matter the cost.

Pete's smile fell, he looked over at Dash and opened his eyes, “What's wrong?”

“N-nothing!” the cyan pegasus protested, looking away in embarrassment.

“You're tensed, something's wrong.” Rainbow said nothing, but Pete felt her primaries tense near his flank and looked back, “What happened, Dash.”

“...you're not going to like it,” her words just barely audible.

“Try me,” Pete said, defiantly.

“You got your cutie mark.”

“Oh, and he was a BLANK FLANK TOO!?” Scootaloo shouted, “So you're telling me the human turned pony got his cutie mark before us?! COME ON!”

“What is it?” Rarity asked, curiosity evident on her's and everypony else's face.

“...it's... it's a black heart.”

Confusion exploded onto Pete's face as he pushed himself unsteadily to his hooves and turned to look. Sure enough, on both flanks there was a heart, simple in design, but it was jet black. The group examined it for a moment before Pete sat down, and deliberations began on what it meant. Any and every attempt was made to avoid the simplest possible interpretation, that Pete was, at his core, evil.

“That's not what it means,” a voice echoed inside his head.

Pete closed his eyes again, he had not heard another voice in his head in years, and this was not the same one.

Who are you?

“I'm not who you'd expect. I would tell you, or appear myself, but this is a splintered timeline. I had a plan for you, and you're doing a BANG UP job here. As stated though, you're currently in an alternate time line where there are some very significant changes. Namely, you conquered your inner darkness before arriving in Equestria. You also have a form that can naturally use magic, so it has manifested itself differently. Your cutie mark is a symbol of your control. You mastered the darkness within, and now it's up to you to master control over the powers it brings.”

… I see

“Good. You're a lot more level headed than this Pete here. Such a loose cannon. Kinda reminds me of myself a few millennia ago.”

So how do I master this power I allegedly have?

“Oh, it's not alleged at all, ask Twilight. She exploded with power from the Secretariat in the form of a brilliant light, you blew in a door taking down the minion changelings, and took out the guards in the city, with pure darkness. And where would you learn control of DARKNESS from? Of all the ponies in Equestria, nay, the world, who would have knowledge of ancient dark magics?”

Ah, I see, both your hint, and you're horse pun. Neigh, nay? Really?

The voice laughed, “Gotta stay loose kiddo. I've been around for almost 60,000 years, and I almost went insane in the first few thousand trying to take everything seriously.”

There was a moment where Pete almost responded, but the voice was gone and he could feel it. With a sigh, the blue unicorn opened his eyes, and his ears, to the group around him very still trying to excuse his talent. The talking died down moments later as they noticed their friend looking at the sky.

“What's up?” Dash asked, still beside him.

“... could we maybe put the fire out for a moment? I can't see the stars very well.”

“What one are you looking for?” Twilight asked, her curiosity rising.

“Whatever one she's using tonight. Probably one of Orion's. She really like those for some reason.”

Most of the group looked at each other in confusion, but a look of surprise dawned on Celestia's face. With a short glow of her horn the fire died, leaving them in sparse illumination. After a brief moment Pete smiled, and his own horn began to glow faintly.

“By the light of Rigel, may the Goddess of the moon hear my prayer,” Pete whispered, and, in a flash, an image of Luna standing in a city appeared before the group.

The Princess of Night appeared very irritated, and was covered some kind of thick white goop. As she stood there flicking some of the substance off of herself more ponies came by, also coated in it. A closer inspection revealed that most of the buildings were covered by it as well, as if some kind of pox were consuming the city.

“A marshmallow creature. Why marshmallow?” Luna asked, finally looking up into the face of the projection.

“Because who would think the stay puff marshmallow man could be dangerous?” Pete replied with a smirk, also causing Rainbow to chuckle.

“We do not HAVE such a mascot here, Pete. Such a thought is completely absurd.”

“Wait,” Dash said between laughs, “Is that Manehattan?”

“Yes,” Luna replied, confused. Rainbow Dash simply laughed harder, to the point of gasping for air.

“It's a reference you wouldn't understand Princess,” Pete said, shaking his head, but still smiling.

“More of your human movies I'd presume?”

“So he really WAS a human?” Scootaloo asked, apparently still in disbelief.

“Yes, I'm amazed they hadn't explained that yet,” Luna turned and cocked an eyebrow at her sister.

“Well they did,” Applebloom spoke, “But it's kinda hard to believe after what those other ones...”

“Well not now that we can see his cutie mark I don't think it's too hard to believe,” Scootaloo scoffed.

Luna's eyes went wide and she turned back to Pete, “IS THIS TRUE?!”

Pete turned, “Looks that way.”

Upon seeing the mark, and hearing the story of what he'd done, Luna's face fell, “That could mean anything. It's not-”

“It means I've mastered my inner demons,” Pete regurgitated, “Remember when we thought you might have accidentally infected me with Nightmare Moon? Well, I've been thinking about that, and I think we missed something.”

“What?”

“When we did that test to see if I could amplify enough power for you all to go home the magic Celestia gave me completely vanished in seconds. So wouldn't the spell that made Nightmare Moon do the same thing, or in this case transform into another type of spell altogether?”

The silence was oppressive. After a moment Pete continued.

“Ignoring that, since magic has no way of manifesting in the human world, essentially locking it inside of me, I spent five years coming to grips with it in relative peace. Eventually I came to terms, accepted and moved on. I mastered my inner darkness. I've- I'm thinking, that maybe this is simply how it manifests now. It would have happened sooner or later, but the Secretariat sped the process up.”

“So what do we do?” Twilight asked, concerned, “Almost everypony in history that had powerful dark magic ended up evil, or insane.”

“Well, that's the thing. I've been told from a possibly reliable, yet strange, source that Luna might be able to help me.”

“I can't take it away Pete,” the Princess said earnestly.

Pete shook his head, “Nor would I want you too. This power is part of me, separating it from me could have catastrophic consequences. Rather, I want to learn how to use it and I've been told you're the one who has the how to on that.”

“Pete, having the ability to use such magics, and actively learning to use them are two very different things,” Celestia warned, “Delving to far into them-”

“I'm vaguely aware of the generic warnings about evil dark magic, but I'd never even looked over such spells, yet tonight I apparently used extremely powerful ones. As it stands the power is awake inside me, and I can't control it. After hearing Spike's story about the attack on Canterlot I thought that maybe I would have been more efficient if I'd stayed there instead of trailing behind the Elements, but after learning what I did here I can't help but shiver at what I might have done if I'd been around more than just Changelings. I don't want to hurt anyone, and the only way I can make sure that never happens by accident is if I learn to control this.”

“... I am afraid to say it, but he has a point sister. If his potential is so great, better for him to learn discipline and control rather than have an accident later that could endanger others. Even if it does mean teaching him things better left forgotten.”

Celestia sighed, “He is your student Luna, as much as I don't like it, it isn't much my place to tell you what to teach him. Any more than it is yours to mine. I don't like it, but it is your choice.”

“Very well, Pete. When you return to Canterlot we shall begin your studies anew. ...I suppose this means I'll have to put off your ascension to Captain of my guard till later though.”

“Oh no,” Pete said, purposefully insincerely, “What a tragedy.”

Luna rolled her eyes and the vision faded, as it did so Spike breathed fire on the remnants of the wood and the light came back to life. There was silence for a long while as those gathered considered what had happened. Well, all but Pete. Pete knew that this would detract from his plans to scour the Canterlot library for information on life magic, and ultimately his goal of keeping Rainbow Dash alive as long as he would live, but it was necessary. He felt genuine fear from these powers and the negative connotation possessing them would give other people.

Celestia was wondering how these events would affect her sister. Luna had not touched dark magic since Nightmare Moon, and for good reason. The temptation to take control could spring up at any moment, and though Luna was known for her mastery of such spells, it did not make her any less susceptible to their influence. As history demonstrated. Celestia's only hope was that perhaps there was more to Pete's cutie mark than expected, and that the young stallion could teach his control over his heart to her sister.

For the most part the others were still gently working their way around the entirety of the conversation they had just heard. They had known Pete had some issues, but he had left those behind long ago, Dash had watched them fade first hand. The stallion that stood before them now was almost always smiling, even if only slightly sometimes. The idea that he had evil powers of great expanse within him almost contradicted the personality he had now. But there was one thing that jumped to one mind in particular. One thing that stuck out and left a certain mare almost inarticulate with shock.

“Y-y-you're Luna's student?” Twilight stuttered, “Since when?”

Pete looked dumbfounded, “Since like a week after coming here, I guess. What's wrong?”

“What's WRONG?! What isn't?! I mean, I had to pass a test and go through magic school and get good grades, always worrying about failing Princess Celestia and then you show up and it's just 'oh, I'm Luna, I'll make you my student, who cares if you don't know magic?' I care! I mean... COME ON!” Twilight exploded, her rant turning into pants, then flushed embarrassment.

“Is that all? Well, allow me to ease your mind. While I may be considered her student at the moment, it's not public knowledge, and is subject to change at any time. Tutor would be a better term for it. I had barely a basic grasp of magical knowledge and was getting nowhere fast on my own. One night Luna found me and decided to give me some pointers, since nights are typically free of distraction, and therefore royal duties. At the moment I'm still working my way up to intermediate spells, of which I fail quite often. I suppose this is all going to change now that we've discovered my 'talent.' Surely even if we never told anypony they would make an immediate connection between a pony with dark magic and the Princess of it.

“You're also forgetting that the line for ponies to be taught by Luna isn't very existent. The thoughts of Nightmare Moon are still prevalent in many ponies minds, but not mine. Even if I don't end up being some incredibly powerful, famous unicorn, I'm still a start. Worse, there will be more pressure on me than you. If you fail ponies opinions won't change of Celestia, but if I do moods would almost certainly sour over Luna. The monstrous princess that once tried to bring night eternal, and her failure of a protege that couldn't even live up to his cutie mark. Great pressures ride on both of us, I know that, but you're still leagues ahead of me in magical theory and practice.”

“You seem rather calm about that,” Celestia noted aloud.

“Of course I do. Remember my plan? I'm going to end up a LEGEND when I'm done. Just because I know I've got a lot riding on my shoulders doesn't mean I can't be confident about it. Twilight's better than me because she's had a lot of practice with magic, and magic itself is her talent, pure undefined magic. I get the terrifying dark magics, that ironically work counter to what I want to achieve,” a large, almost horrifying smile spread across Pete's face, “I welcome the challenge though, and who knows? Maybe one day I'll prove to be the exception to the horror stories about black magic.”

“...um, what plan? I mean, if you don't mind,” Fluttershy squeaked from the side.

“Yeah, you've got a plan now?” Applejack asked, eyebrow cocked.

“Yep. I'm gonna figure out how to extend the life span of the other pony races to the extent of unicorns.”

Shock rippled through the group.

“Is that even possible?!” Spike asked, getting slightly excited.

“No kiddin' I mean, that's a great idea, I suppose, but is it even possible?” Applejack looked to Twilight, the unicorn lost in thought.

“I've never thought about it. I haven't even gotten to that point in my studies,” she replied.

“Well that's why I work better at these things, no schedule for me, and I'm reading up on it in my spare time. A suggestion, read Star Swirl the Bearded's notes over it before you jump into any of the modern stuff, but don't take what he says too seriously. A lot of innovations have been made since then, and he barely understood it himself. Of course Star Swirl admits that many times.”

It was Celestia's turn to be shocked, “How far along are you?!”

Pete laughed, “I started months ago. Not long after Luna drove the basics of magical theory into my skull. I've worked my way through about half the castle's collective works on life magic.”

“Is that a lot?” Sweetie Belle asked, looking at Twilight as the purple unicorn impersonated a fish.

“It's the second largest study in the magical world,” Twilight strained, “And he's HALF WAY THROUGH?!”

“Well, I'm not out saving the whole of Equestria, or writing friendship reports. I have much more free time. I may have read more about one subject than you, Twilight, but I'll bet you've picked over a lot more than I have. My goal is focused and direct, if it doesn't have a chance of telling me something I might need to know about extending life, I've passed it over.”

“Oh. Well, I guess if you're just going after one subject that isn't too hard to do. In fact I'd probably be done by now.”

“Haha, I'm sure you would! Even with my new unicorn mind I still find myself forgetting things not long after reading them and end up having to search through everything till I find it again. It's typically something pointless too, just some random phrase I saw and can't get it out of my mind until I see who wrote it.”

“You seem to be taking this rather personally Twilight,” Rarity said, showing concern for her friends sudden worries.

“Well... I've just worked really hard to be Celestia's student, and finding out that Pete just sort of fell into a similar position...”

“It's nothing to be ashamed of, and like I said, if I prove that I'm not up to snuff it's just as easy for me to lose that position. Not that that would stop me.”

“So why do you want to keep everypony alive for so long anyway?”

Pete glanced back at Rainbow Dash, then to the others, “It's not completely obvious?”

“That's it?” Applejack asked incredulously, “I mean, not that it's not a good reason, but that's all?”

“Well, there's more, but going beyond the obvious feels like I'm saying too much. Sufficed to say, I've no intention of hoarding this discovery for myself, and I've also no intention of pushing it on others. Something just seems off though about this whole age thing. It's not fair to me that unicorns live for so long.”

“...I'll help,” everypony looked at Twilight, “He's making a very good argument, what can I say? Besides, something like this is a HUGE undertaking that could change Equestria! Even if we don't manage to do it EXACTLY like Pete wants, the research we put in could change the world of healthcare. Better, more efficient healing magic, shorter recovery times, who knows?! ...of course I'll need books from the royal library, and maybe to look over your notes.”

“I can get my notes to you easy enough, and if I can figure out how to do it right I might be able to send you books using the rune symbol in the castle.”

“Twilight, are you certain you want to do this?” Celestia asked, the monarch growing more concerned about Pete's plan.

“I'm positive, Princess. I know it's going to be hard, but I really think Pete has good intentions, and a good idea here. I don't believe we'll be able to extend life spans THAT far, but we can improve the quality of life for a lot of ponies. ...maybe.”

Celestia sank into her thoughts as the conversation drifted back to Pete's history. For eons the status quo of the world had been maintained by pony races different life spans. There was just the right population to keep everyone happy, if they chose to go the right way. This research proposal was threatening to turn the world into an overpopulated mess, like Pete's had been. Celestia didn't fault the humans for that, but now she almost could, if Pete's idea came to fruition. His intentions were pure, but he could not yet see the ramifications of such an act. Perhaps in time he might, but she doubted very heavily that even that would dissuade him. This situation was not likely to turn out well for the Princess of the Sun.

“Relax Celly, everything is as the All Maker deems it,” a strange voice echoed in the Princess' head, causing her to look around sharply.

“It was nothing,” she assured those around her when asked what was wrong.

“Who are you?” she asked the voice internally.

“I'm ...a watcher, at the moment. I see no reason to get involved there, and I'm rather busy here. I just thought I should let you know that even if Pete succeeds in his endeavor, which I'm sure he will one day, you'll adapt. And probably do a much better job than most.”

With that the voice left, Celestia recognizing the calm emptiness of being alone with her thoughts. A feeling yet lingered from that voice, however. A feeling that somethings were very much out of, even her, control. A feeling she hadn't felt in many centuries, not since Discord roamed free. It felt as though a storm was brewing, something was going to happen. When and where was yet to be decided, but something was in the works, something deemed to occur by the fate's themselves.

Lost Time

Year Three in the human world

“Show me,” she whispered to her human mate. Very slowly he had opened his eyes and the symptoms were obvious. A lump caught in her throat. How long had he been like this? They hadn't been a day apart in three years. How had she only started noticing yesterday? Suddenly, tears began to flow from Pete's eyes. There were none of the other signs of crying, no labored breath, no sobbing or wheezing, just tears.

“Dash... I can't see you any more. I-I literally can't see you,” he stuttered, the reality hitting him fully now.

She floated towards him carefully and, placing her back hooves on his lap for support, wrapped her front hooves and both wings around him. “You don't need to. I'll be here, forever.”

Present

“Rainbow, darling?” Rainbow Dash snapped out of her memories to see the concerned face of Rarity just inches away from her own. “You're crying.”

“Yeah, I-I just remembered something,” she replied, wiping her eyes with a hoof.

“Was it that bad?” Applejack asked, falling in beside her. The three of them, AJ, Rainbow, and Rarity, were walking a few feet away from the others who were 'spearheading' the 'march.'

“I just remembered the day Pete went blind,” she answered quietly, her eyes fixed on the blue stallion in front of her.

“Oh, he was BLIND TOO?!” Scootaloo half yelled.

“Come on Scoot, that ain't nice,” Applebloom scolded her friend.

“Why are you so down on him anyway?” Sweetie Belle inquired, her eyebrow arched at her fellow crusader.

“He just shown up out of nowhere and suddenly he's Rainbow Dash's special somepony! We don't know anything about him and it's just... GRAH!”

“...he was an author,” Rainbow started slowly, attracting the CMC's attention.

“So he wrote books? What kind?”

“Fantasy. He was pretty good at it too. He made a whole lot of money off it and then spent it buying a huge chunk of land really far away from any other humans, just so I could fly. Before we moved we spent a lot of time inside being close to each other. We found out that we had a lot in common, same music, same kind of books, just really basic stuff. When we moved though, that's when something clicked inside me. The first day after everything was ready, a security system so we'd know if someone was coming, power, water, and a huge fence to keep other people out, I flew. I went up as high as I dared, darted all over the yard, just everything I hadn't been able to do in MONTHS, and when I landed he had this look. It was stunned, amazed, happy, and envious.”

“Envious?” Scootaloo repeated slowly, “What?”

“It means he was jealous!” Sweetie Belle explained.

“Oh, why?”

Rainbow Dash smiled at the orange filly, “Can you guess what the number one thing he wants to do, more than anything else in the whole world?” Scootaloo shook her head. “He wants to fly, and he was crazy about it. When we talked back when we first arrived in his world I thought maybe he was just kinda buttering me up, or maybe that I was just imagining it. Out there, in the country away from anyone else though, I saw it. Every time he looked at the sky I could see the same look on his face as I had a long time ago. He wanted to fly as much as I love doing it. When I saw that in his eyes something inside me just clicked. We were already really close after all that time, but that cemented it. ...and I can't tell you how disappointed we both were when he didn't become a pegasus.”

Rarity sniffled off to the side, “My, Rainbow. That was... well, beautiful.”

“So why did you suddenly think about when he went blind?” Applejack asked.

“I was thinking about how he's gonna have to go back to Canterlot to study more, and how little we've seen each other since he's been here. It reminded me of something I promised him, that I'd always be there.”

“Now don't you worry about that, RD. This here's just a phase, the guy's gotta learn these things, and ain't nopony better to teach him than Luna. Just as soon as he's done the two of you are gonna be inseparable, and probably a little unbearable, for a long time.”

The conversation continued, but Scootaloo wasn't listening at the moment. She was now focused on the same blue stallion Rainbow had been moments ago. Wanting to fly. That was something the filly wanted too, and even though she had a much better chance at it than he did it was still something they had in common. She began to mull her actions over, thinking that maybe she had been too hard on the new arrival. And to make her feel worse, she suddenly realized that he had followed them all the way to the Changeling hide out, by himself. He had risked his life to help rescue her and the other Crusaders, and he hadn't even met them. Guilt slowly filled her as she realized everything she had said, and how undeserving he was of her criticisms.

Meanwhile

Pete sighed as he trudged along, sandwiched between Celestia and her student. The morning had started off rather rough. Sleeping on the ground was NOT fun, and even after two months he still had difficulties getting his new body to function properly before he was completely awake. This had led to some very painful false starts earlier. Worse had been the way Scootaloo was acting. Normally such a thing wouldn't bother him, but she had been his favorite Crusader, and easily made one of his top five favorite ponies of all time. As the thought continued to circle his mind Pete sighed again.

“It's rather early to be sighing so much,” Celestia noted, looking slyly to her lower right at the former human.

“Not exactly my best morning in Equestria either,” Pete replied.

“Still, I think this is the most I've seen you frown since you arrived.”

“The Princess is right,” Twilight chimed in, “This is pretty weird for the new you.”

“...Scootaloo doesn't like me.”

Twilight jerked slightly, “And?”

Pete gave a wan smile, “I knew you'd miss it.”

“I assume this is another one of your 'fandom' oddities?” Celestia guessed.

“Yep. I know it sounds, like, stupid, but she was my favorite Crusader. Everyone had one, there were entire episodes dedicated solely to those three's antics. So I was kinda hoping that things would started off on a better note, but...” Pete gave a slight look behind him. The purple maned filly was currently engrossed in a story being told by her idol, Rainbow Dash. Looking forward again, Pete sighed.

“Don't worry,” Celestia reassured him, “From her perspective you're a complete stranger that has arrived from out of the blue, and is getting preferred treatment from her hero. I'm sure that she'll come to understand in time.”

With Celestia and her advanced magic powers, what should have been a three day trip took only one. When they reached the mine Twilight and her teacher combined their powers and did a mass teleportation spell that deposited them inside the Ponyville library. There was a short farewell from the princess, met with much formality from the other ponies, sans Pete of course, who was falling in line to follow her with a roll of his eyes.

“Oh, and Pete,” the co-monarch of Equestria said, looking behind her at the stallion, “It's likely to take Luna a few days to get back from Manehattan, considering her difficulty with the directions GETTING there. In light of this, and your recent adventure, I'm giving you a few days of vacation. Learning dark magic is not something one should attempt with a heavy heart and weary mind. So take this opportunity to refresh yourself, and I'll see you in, oh say, three days.”

Pete took a minute to process that incredibly scripted event. It was obvious that Celestia had been planning this for some time now, though how long was currently eluding him. Eventually he shook his head and responded with a barely enthused, “Yeah,” as he tried to cope with the shock. Causing the alabaster alicorn to laugh as she set off for the capital. There were several moments of silence as most of the mane six looked at each other, making sure they had all heard the same thing, followed by an explosion of conversation each of them trying to convince the others of what Pete should do first. Twilight was insisting they begin their research into life extension, while Applejack countered that studying wouldn't be very effective on an empty stomach and it had been hours since they'd all ate. Pinkie suggested a party, of course, and Fluttershy tried to calm them all down to no avail. It wasn't until the door to the library slammed shut and the group noticed that Rainbow Dash and Pete were missing that the conversation stopped. In a surprising act, it was Rarity that prevented her friends from chasing the couple down.

“Now wait just a minute,” the white unicorn said, stepping in front of the door, “Now I understand that most of us would like to show Pete some part of Ponyville, being as he's new and our friend and all. But I think there's something we ALL tend to forget rather frequently, and that is that those two are MORE than friends now. Personally, I can't imagine spending YEARS seeing someone everyday and then suddenly having that taken away. As good as the ideas you girls came up with were, I think that Rainbow Dash gets the first choice.”

“Ah guess you're right, Rarity,” Applejack said, hanging her head in shame.

“Yeah,” Twilight said, mimicking the action, “It was kind of selfish of us to start arguing over and not even ASKING him.”

“Well, your hearts were in the right place, I mean, how often did he talk about all the things he wanted to do here? He has three whole days though, and a lifetime after that, so I hardly think that Rainbow taking one afternoon now is going to hurt anypony.”

“Gee Rarity,” Fluttershy said from the back, “When did you get so sensitive about this? I mean, that was really insightful. ...not that you're not normally insightful but-”

Rarity rolled her eyes as the pegasus began fumbling over her words, “Well, Rainbow told us a little story on the way back...”

Just outside Ponyville

It was a lone tree in the middle of the plains. Just a regular tree that nopony thought about for more than the length of a casual glance. Today, however, it was very special. At least it was to the couple laying underneath it. Rainbow Dash was half laying on top of Pete, completely relaxed, her wings half sprawled out. Pete laying on the ground itself, his back legs crossed, knees (were they knees? He'd have to look into that later) bent, and forehooves gently holding his mate. It was a lazy position, one they used to go into after something strenuous or emotionally stressful. Today was the perfect day for it too. Warm, with just a gentle breeze every now and again.

“I miss my hands,” Pete said after a long while, causing Rainbow to laugh.

“Seriously? That's what you think of right now?”

“...I miss that apple tree we planted in the backyard, and the garden too. I miss spending entire days doing nothing at all, just laying under that tree and watching the sky. Feeling your fur on my palms as I held you, and being able to wrap my arms all the way around you without it being awkward to pull off.”

A sad smile spread across her face, though Pete couldn't see it from his vantage point, as she replied, “Me too. Do you remember the first time that tree grew apples?”

Pete gave a gentle laugh, “Yeah. I didn't think applebucking physics would work in the 'real' world, so you demonstrated it. I had knots on my head for a week.”

“I told you not to stand under it, I'm not responsible for your personal stupidity.”

“I know. I really should have listened,” Pete laughed again.

The two fell back into a relaxed silence, but a question soon began burning inside of Rainbow Dash. Finally, unable to continue without an answer she spoke once more, her tone quiet, subdued, and almost sad.

“Do you ever regret coming here?”

“...I'd be lying if I said there weren't things I missed. Like, my sister, and that one girl at the store that knew who I was as an author, but I know that if I didn't come I would have regretted it even more. Just the thought of never seeing you again is so completely foreign for me. I can't even imagine how things would have turned out for me if you hadn't jumped back through the portal. How things would be for us.”

“Yeah, I can't believe I ever thought about coming back here without you. Human or not.”

Pete gave another soft chuckle, “That's what time does I suppose. It gives us insight into our old trains of thought and makes us realize just what we were thinking at the time.”

They laid under that tree for the rest of the afternoon. When the sun started to set they made their way back into town where Pinkie Pie found them, and dragged them off to a party at Sugarcube Corner. The next two days were a blur of sights, sounds, and occasionally tastes, as each of the mane six shown Pete their own personal slice of Ponyville. Applejack shown him Sweet Apple Acres, Rarity insisted on getting his measurements so she could make him some formal wear, citing that anypony in Canterlot needs at least one good suit. Rainbow Dash, having Pete use a combination of teleportation and a cloud walking spell, gave a tour of her house, Twilight gave him a quick show of her basement laboratory while simultaneously picking his brain about own research, and on the afternoon before he was to return to Canterlot they all gathered for a picnic. The event was hilariously derailed by a certain toothless alligator and blue unicorn's odd antics.

“What in the name of Celestia are you doing?” Twilight asked the student of Luna, who was currently laying belly down on the grass, hooves splayed every which way, staring the small, harmless predator in the eyes.

The group looked between the two, then to Pinkie Pie, who shrugged.

“Don't ask me, I don't speak alligator.”

There was a sudden noise, like a squeaky gasp, as Gummy opened his mouth wide, hopped up into the air, and lunged at Pete. The stallion, his entire body still half limp, leaned to the right, then rolled himself to the left, making the two face opposite directions. Simultaneously they both shifted themselves until they were once more facing each other, with the mane six now behind Gummy, and Pete facing them. Other than Pinkie Pie, who was laughing hysterically, the group simply looked confused. After the third time, Pinkie quite literally rolling on the ground with laughter, Gummy calmly walked forward, climbed up Pete's snout and face to the top of his head, then turned to face the same direction as his new mount. No explanation was given, and Pinkie Pie declared that none was needed. The alligator and unicorn were officially the bestest of friends, according to the pink pony.

The morning of his departure dawned clear and crisp, the autumn winds beginning to blow. He had been staying with Twilight, aiding the other unicorn in her studies as best he could when they weren't showing him around town, and had said his farewells to her earlier. The mane six were busy that day, as Mondays tended to be, and the only one that had promised to show up had been Rainbow Dash. Which may have influenced the others decisions to stray away. Sitting outside the station, waiting on the first train of the day, a still half asleep Pete stretched his body and scanned the sky. There was no sign of his marefriend, and knowing her she probably wouldn't show up until the last possible minute.

“Hey.”

Pete looked back down to find Scootaloo standing in front of him, the orange filly looking at the ground guiltily.

“I-I've been thinking, and, maybe I shouldn't have said some of the stuff I said. You chased after us by yourself, and you'd hadn't even met us yet. All you knew was that Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were your friends sisters, and that I was just...”

“Rainbow Dash's biggest fan?” he offered, the filly looking up sharply.

“S-seriously? I mean, I-I know I am, but how did you...?”

“You don't think Dash and I lived together for five whole years and I didn't learn just about everything about her life did you? There were entire conversations, whole hours where I just sat and listened to her talk about all the things she used to do here, and all the ponies she used to talk to. You came up more often than you might think.”

A slow blush covered Scootaloo's cheeks, “Really?”

“Yup.”

“OH! Um,” she shook her head, trying to clear away the sudden elation, “A-anyway. The point is, you could have gotten hurt chasing after us, and you didn't have to. So maybe I was just kind of being mean when I said all that stuff to you, and I'm … I'm sorry.”

“It's okay. I know it can't be easy to just suddenly have somepony you don't know showing up out of nowhere and finding out that their really close to someone you know. Just, uh, be a little more careful next time. Just because words aren't physically real, doesn't mean they can't hurt. You and the other Crusaders probably know that better than anypony else.”

“Yeah.”

After that, Scootaloo took off, running late for school, and Dash arrived minutes later. The couple spent a moment saying good bye, topped with a passionate kiss, and then Pete had to leave. Taking his seat on the mostly empty train, he wondered just how long it would take before he was proficient enough at magic to be out from under the literal wing of Luna. Twilight had shown him over this vacation that he was still woefully behind most students of magic his age, but certainly ahead of where the average pony would be after just a couple of months. Exciting this wound to the ego was his need to learn forbidden magics that threatened to taint his heart, mind, and soul.

Recalling Celestia's words, that dark magic should not be learned with a burdened heart, Pete shifted his focus to the time that would come after. When he would take residence in Ponyville, close to his friends, and love. It was a beacon that shone a brilliant light through the darkness he was about to embark into, a personal light he was sure would lead him safely through even the most arduous of challenges.

Author's Note

Could I possibly update any more in one day?! Yes, I could, but I'm kinda sleepy so maybe tomorrow.

Surprising Arrival

One Month Later

“Celestia,” Pete called to the alabaster alicorn a few feet away from him on the throne, “Side bar?”

Eyebrow raised, Celestia indulged her sister's student and followed him to the edge of the dais.

“What is it?”

“Well... shouldn't something else have happened here? Like maybe Twilight should have some wings or something?”

Celestia looked almost horrified, “Why would she? ...is this another inaccuracy from the show?”

“I guess. When she fixed Star Swirl's spell you appeared and turned her into an alicorn. But that didn't happen, obviously.”

Celestia sighed, “One can not BECOME an alicorn, any more than you could permanently become a pegasus. There are things about the soul that are intrinsic to it, unalterable things. You might be able to temporarily give yourself wings, but the change would not be permanent. Were you to do so it would have unknowable consequences, both spiritually and mentally. I'm proud of what my student has accomplished, but that is purely a ridiculous concept for this particular world. Perhaps in another reality it would be possible, but not here.”

Pete gave a sigh of relief, “Oh, thank Luna.”

The Princess shook her head, “Luna had nothing to do with it.”

The two went back to their seats, Celestia on the throne, Pete next to Luna, who was next to the throne. Assured there would be no further interruptions, Twilight continued to explain everything that had happened. The account was as meticulous as you would expect from a scientific being, and took nearly an hour to finish. Celestia seemed genuinely interested, all the way up to the end, the same could not be said for the others. Pete, having knowledge of the event in full already, was bored almost instantaneously. Luna had been woken up for this audience, and was half asleep on her hooves, occasionally jerking back into consciousness now and again. Though whether her nodding off had to do with the story or her lack of sleep could not be determined. The others of the mane six dropped off at different points. It wasn't until the double doors on the far side of the room exploded inward that everypony was fully alert.

“A week,” a disturbingly familiar voice cried out from the doors, “A full fucking week, and I'm STILL NOT HOME?! Argh!”

The pair of guards that were ever present in the throne room took up defensive positions behind, or from the human's perspective in front, of the Elements of Harmony, who were struck with awe at the new comer's appearance.

“A- a human?” one of them said, looking back at Celestia, the Sun Princess just as shocked as the rest.

“You two better get the hell out of my way,” the human Pete Powell said, unsheathing a blade with his right hand and striking a combat position, “I'm NOT having a good week, and would love nothing more than to express my aggression in a VERY violent manner.”

“Who are you?” Luna called.

The human looked up, “The name's Pete Powell. Long story short, I'm from an alternate Equestria. We, that is me and the Elements of Harmony from my world, were fighting Chrysalis in an old mine somewhere in the Everfree. An accident happened and I fell into some kind of portal that flung me into a different Equestria. I'm just trying to get home, but every time I show up somewhere SOMETHING goes screwy as hell. Either I'm attacked by guards, or there's diamond dogs in the mine, or... Well, something goes wrong, most notably that I'm NEVER IN THE RIGHT REALITY.”

The guards looked at each other, then to the blue unicorn on the dais.

“You may leave,” Celestia said to them, quickly realizing the situation.

They were reluctant at first, but a stern look from both princesses got them to move right along. Once they had left the room, closing the doors human Pete had emerged from, the black clothed man relaxed and let out a long sigh. He stepped forward slowly, his pace deliberate as he felt out the mood of the room. He found the gathering strange, and most strange of all was the blue unicorn next to Luna. In his entire week stay at Canterlot he hadn't seen that stallion once, and his position next to Luna identified him as someone of importance.

“What happened to your hand?!” Rainbow Dash suddenly asked, horror and surprise on her, and soon the other's, face.

The human laughed and raised his left hand to face level, “This? Well, in the extended version of my story you all, that is you six and the princesses, wound up in my dimension and at some point I got... infected, I guess, with some of Luna's magic. The same spell that made Nightmare Moon. Except it did something different to me, and wound up turning into some kind of weird … I have no idea how to describe it.”

“Like a mirror of all your soul's darkness made real?”

Human Pete shot the unicorn a look, “Yeah, I guess that kinda works. Anyway, I've been figuring out how this whole 'claw' thing works as I go. It's a little disturbing, but it's not so bad.”

“So what is it you need, Pete Powell?” Celestia asked, her eyes fixed on what should only be a memory.

“Right,” he said, lowering his hand, “basically, I just need let out of town without being beaten to death by the guards. I've gotten to the mine and found the Well of Souls enough times that I could probably do it BLIND, and without my gear. It was just that part where everypony started screaming and attacking me that made me think something was up.”

“There might be a slight hole in that,” pony Pete said, carefully stepping forward, “In our reality there was a Changeling attack a while back. Part of it involved collapsing a mine past the Everfree to divide the Elements and turn them against each other. It's possible that, even if this isn't the cave you're talking about, that the cave in buried this 'Well of Souls.'

The other Pete's face fell, “Shit. That could be a problem.” Anger suddenly filled his features and tone, “I don't have TIME to be cooling my god damn heels!”

“Why?”

“Why? Well, when I left, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack were about to go hoof to hoof with Chrysalis herself. As much faith as I'd like to have in them, that bug dropped Celestia once. I've found that if I don't spend more than 24 hours in a world time barely advances in the next one, so it's possible for me to get back without too much time passing. If I get back and find that I'm too late though... or maybe it would be better if I didn't make it back at all.”

The royal sisters shot each other a look, then looked back to the human. It was obvious that this Pete was much less mature than the one they had in court now, and it was even reflected in his appearance. When they had found Pete, their Pete, a second time his aging was apparent, but this Pete seemed even younger than when they had met him the first time.

“I'll have the guard investigate the collapsed mine. Perhaps this 'Well of Souls' is still intact. In the mean time, I would like to know why you think it would be best for you to never find your world.” Celestia said, rising from the throne and heading down the steps, Luna beside her.

Pete gave a sour laugh, “It would take a lot of explaining. Some of it I don't feel like going over.”

“Your name is Pete D. Powell. You used to live in the United States of America, the state of North Dakota specifically. One day you came home to find your apartment filled with 8 magical beings from a children's cartoon show. After recovering from your initial shock, which caused you to lash out violently towards us and your species, you befriended us. That was until Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty was injured, at which point you made it your sole mission to send us home.” Celestia was now face to face with the completely aghast human.

“Okay,” he said slowly, “I'm guessing the same thing happened here? So what's the difference? Pardon, that is, every reality is separate because of some massive change that prevents it from being another. So what is it?”

“My sister,” Luna said, examining the human, “Brought humans here, and it didn't work out. You yourself noted that the general populace cried out in fear from your appearance. That is because these ponies have only known humans to be violent. So much so that my sister was on the brink of being deposed. She swore to never again let a human walk on Equestrian soil, yet now here you stand. I fear that the political ramifications of this far outweigh all others.”

“No way! Maybe some of them would have, but not Kyle and the others.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow, “Kyle and the others?”

“Yeah, my Celestia did the same thing, except she sorta called me in before things got out of hand. I went and settled them down, and a few of them even decided to stay. They're living in Ponyville right now.”

The sisters looked at each other with surprise again. “Sort of called you?” Celestia asked.

“Well... I'm...” Human Pete began fumbling his claw arm around the air looking for the words, “Okay, I guess I can say it since this isn't the reality where it happened and is probably part of the huge difference. So, in my world I spent two years after you all left trying to be a normal human being. It worked, I had a couple of friends, new job, things were cool. Then I got hit by a truck and died.” The shock was palpable. “Yeah, so after that I floated for what felt like eons in some kind of purgatory Luna found me, because my Luna is like the keeper of souls or some shit like that, and broke some rules to give me my normal body, only in Equestria. It had only been two months so things weren't all that horrible yet.”

“I see,” Luna mumbled, taking her place next to Celestia again, “And, in this timeline, Rainbow Dash DIDN'T jump back through to your world?”

Pete actually stepped back in surprise, “No! Did she do that here?!”

“Yes, it was a very distressing five months. By the fourth month the humans attacked, and it took us that long to find them, that is our Pete and Rainbow Dash, in the human world. It wasn't until after things had settled that we went to get her,” Luna explained.

“And... what about the other me?”

“He stayed behind,” pony Pete said, stepping down the base level, “At least, that's what I was told.”

The group looked at the blue unicorn for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

“So, who are you? I mean, if they're up and telling you about humans and all that you must be kind of important, and, no offense, but I didn't see anypony close to you when I was guard training.”

“I am... Luna's student, in the same manner that Twilight is Celestia's. My name,” he continued, interrupting the human, “I find to be of little value any more. Such things come with the knowledge I have obtained.”

The human Pete squinted at his pony counterpart, “I really don't like you. You've got this really pompous air.”

The pony smiled faintly, “And you are like looking into a mirror, showing me all the foolishness of my youth. All that fire, piss, and vinegar, all misdirected. … and I'm barely 33.”

The human gritted his teeth, “You're starting to really get on my nerves.”

The pony only smiled back, his expression one of complete calm, “Yes, I suppose I would. ...Princesses, if you'll excuse me I have more important things to look into than this rabble rouser.”

“Yes, I'm sure your research is beckoning to you. Continue on, Captain,” Luna dismissed the pony with a nod, the others far too appalled by the performance to think clearly.

“Captain?” human Pete asked, shooting Luna a look once the pony in question had left.

“Yes,” she replied, “On top of being my student and conducting his own extensive research, he also functions as the captain of my guard.”

Pete rested his claw on the hilt of his sword, “Really? Is he any good?”

“His qualifications are above bar. He scored at least above the average in training, and has, by himself, defeated countless Changelings, braved the Everfree alone, and is currently perfecting dark arts even I have trouble with. Though that last one may be more due to his talent than anything.”

“Dark magic is his talent? Isn't that a little, I dunno, worrisome?”

“Yeah,” Dash yelled across the room, “And we should listen to the guy with the evil murder hand.”

Once more his face fell, “Yeah, guess I shouldn't be the one to talk.”

Midnight, Canterlot Royal Library

Pete had become most comfortable in the library since arriving in Equestria. It was one of the few places that his new pony form had no effect on him. It was increasingly easy to lose himself in tome after tome of knowledge, and his brain's new form helped tremendously. The silence that pervaded the area and the usual lack of activity made it the perfect place to relax. It was his intimate knowledge of the library that allowed him to feel the human's presence long before he became visible by candle light. The dark clothed man quietly pulled a chair out to the left of the unicorn and sat down. Across the table was Rainbow Dash, the cyan pegasus sound asleep, her face in a pillow on the table, and a blanket draped over her back.

“I never really got to see her sleep,” human Pete whispered, “She looks so adorable.”

Luna's student looked over, “I almost wouldn't have thought it possible that 'adorable' was in your vocabulary. You really are missing out though, I've found that watching her sleep fills me with unspeakable joy.”

“Yeah, I'm starting to find out that I've missed a lot,” Pete said sourly.

“And just what does that mean?”

He looked the pony in the eyes, “What does it matter to you?”

“You seem to have taken what I said earlier to heart a bit too fast. I know it will sound very 'pompous' to you, but I've reached a point in my life where I don't let the little things get to me. I have too many precious moments, both behind me and in front of me, to focus on the negative. I do my best to help everyone, regardless of race, gender, intelligence, or personal feelings. That said, I personally don't have bad feelings towards you. You remind me of myself when I was making hasty decisions, long before I mellowed and realized what was really important.”

“...you're right. That did sound really pompous. ...Okay, so I've been bumping around these different realities for about a week now.”

The pony nodded, his attention solely on the human.

“Right, so at first there's the usual weirdness, genders flipped, the ponies are dragons instead of ponies, humans instead of ponies, except they have wings and horns still. Then suddenly I'm in a semi normal Equestria, except there's a guy. Red hair, goatee I think, not sure I was far away and it was close to sun down. Anyway, I'm hiding in the bushes outside Ponyville when I see him, and I'm freaking out a little. I haven't had any contact with this world, one of the few that I just breezed through. Then, suddenly, Rainbow Dash darts out of the sky and kisses him, and they both look really happy, and it's great. Then Twilight shows up and she kisses the guy too, and they're all happy, like IMPOSSIBLE happy. The kind where I'm not sure I've ever been that happy, or if being that happy is even theoretically possible.

“Suddenly I feel like I'm intruding on something huge, so I tear outta there like a bat outta hell- er, Tartarus, and make for the mine. I find the Well of Souls and hop in. Next world is semi normal, except there's two humans this time, and things are all a little crazy. They had to be the most AWESOME guys I'd ever met, no kidding. One of them had this knife and was just brutal when we had to fight our way to The Well. His friend though, he was married to Rainbow Dash. Second time I'd seen that human cross Rainbow type of relationship, and she was just so fucking happy with this dude.

“Now, here I am, and there's you two. You and her, and I can see it from here, she's happy. I've heard stories all day from a few folks, and I doubt she came in here to sleep on the table because it's good for her neck, or whatever. A-and it's got me thinking that... maybe I'm not the guy for her. Maybe, I'm just deluding myself, and it hurts, but something tells me that it's right. That I'm going to end up hurting her, or worse.”

“I see... has it occurred to you that maybe this 'something' telling you to break things off with your Rainbow is that claw? Or rather, whatever the root of it is?”

“No, this is like, a gut feeling. It's something inside of me, not my mind. I just don't think I can make her as happy as I've seen you three. That is, you, and those other two humans.”

“Pete,” it felt weird saying his own name, “You can not measure these parallel versions of Rainbow Dash, and her relationships, with your own. Even if you could, don't you think it's her choice who makes her happy? If being with you makes her happy, and vice versa, why have these doubts? Simply do your best, and if that's not enough then try harder until SHE quits on you.”

Human Pete looked down, anger and sadness on his face, “You wouldn't understand, even if I told you. Thanks for the advice though.”

He tried to stop his other self, but couldn't find the words. It was true that he had no idea what the human had gone through. Though he felt that he would understand, if only the other would open up. Ultimately nothing could be said and, rather than stay and brood in the library, Pete decided to turn in early. His sleep was mostly restless, as was common for those on the Lunar Guard, and not even Rainbow's presence could calm him.

The next day dawned clear and cold, a sign of the rapidly approaching winter months. Around noon a soldier arrived and informed the Princesses that there was, in fact, a tunnel in the mine that led to some kind of stone gateway filled with magic. Twilight became ecstatic, the thought of studying a lost artifact was a rare opportunity. Her dream was quickly shut down by the interdimensional traveler when he informed her that the only way to ensure he didn't end up coming back was to wreck the portal on entry. The lavender unicorn was about to protest, rather vehemently, until Celestia interceded and accepted the plan. As far as the co-monarch of Equestria was concerned, this human was one Pete too many.

“Facing darkness is not something to be done with a heavy heart,” pony Pete called after his other self, “Do not make any hasty decisions until you have had time to examine these events with a clear, peaceful mind. I guarantee you'll find that things are not nearly as bad as you perceive them to be.”

The human Pete simply waved without turning around as he walked out of the audience chamber. Unlike previous worlds he had visited he had not made friends with the ponies. They had had their own Pete, and he wasn't about to try and take his place. It helped this goal that there was no threat to himself as he made his way to the interdimensional portal. No Changelings, no Diamond Dogs, no ancient dragon pact, nothing. He was simply able to walk in and vanish.

Things were not so simple for the ponified Pete. Having seen what he had once been, and what he could have become, the unicorn was slightly distressed. Not over his own life, there was no reason for an existential crisis because he knew the two were very different individuals, even if they shared the same back story and name. Rather he was concerned with his counterpart's future. The worry he had displayed the night before was genuine, and some how failed to realize that was what made him a good person. Ones ability to see their own flaws and make appropriate changes to compensate was his, and by probable extension, their strongest asset. Yet the human refused to make changes, forcing himself to see others as shimmering examples of perfection he could never achieve. Like they both had back when they lived in the human world.

“Always comparing to others, but never looking out for your own interests,” the unicorn muttered, turning away from the door and heading back to his studies, “I only hope that one day you see how foolish you were.”

Author's Note

And now the gods shall allow me the respite that I've been denied this night, I pray. (Insomnia sucks!)

The Move

The rumbling of a hundred plus ponies shouting to try and get their voiced heard was not a sound Pete was soon to forget. Two days ago his alternate universe human self had passed through, leaving a wave of political turmoil in his wake. It had taken over a full day, both Princesses, and more than half the guard to get Canterlot back into a state of order, this had been followed by an immediate command from Luna to travel to Ponyville and enact similar measures to ensure peace. Apparently the other Pete had been spotted here, though he had stuck to the furthest edges of the Everfree forest. The citizens still had fresh memories of the day the humans attacked, or tried to, and though it had met with incredible failure this sighting seemed to back the idea that Celestia wouldn't keep her word about humans. On top of this, Mayor Mare was NOT helping the situation, rather she was exacerbating it for all she was worth.

Finally getting his fill of trying to silence the crowd Pete sat down, laid on his stomach, then rolled onto his side allowing his body to relax completely. It had been roughly 36 hours since he last rested, being captain of the Lunar Guard during a crisis was not easy, and the shouting seemed as though it would never stop. Of course as he had planned, the moment Pete laid down the crowd slowly lowered in volume until all was quiet. Ponies shot each other concerned looks, and more than a few looked at Twilight, who was also up on stage trying to convince the public that everything was under control, with worry and intrigue.

“Don't mind me,” the laying unicorn said opening an eye half way and looking at the crowd, “You all seemed to be having a smashing time yelling over each other, so I figured I'd make myself comfortable until you were done. ...unless you're telling me you're done now.” He waited, “Are you done?”

No response.

“Fine then,” he said, grudgingly getting to his hooves, “If you're all willing to listen now, the human you all saw was NOT an attempt on behalf of Princess Celestia. He was transported here from his own world against his will and has returned there. Everything is fine, there is no threat.”

“No threat?!” a stallion yelled from the back, “He managed to break through Canterlot castle's defenses and make it to the throne room!”

“Yes,” Pete admitted, as murmurs began to circulate once more, “But that was when he was HERE. He's not any longer and he isn't coming back.”

“How can you be so sure?” Mayor Mare asked, from the head of the crowd, “If he came here on his own he could come back!”

“He didn't TRY to come here,” Twilight rebuttled, “And his means of arrival is currently... in... pieces... being transported to Canterlot under strict military watch. Once it gets there Princess Celestia and Luna will test it, to ensure it's no longer functional, and destroy it.” Her voice strained on the last words. Twilight was still not for the eradication of this ruin, though seeing the outcry from human Pete's short stay had her seeing the necessity of it.

“To help assuage the more realistic concerns that have been brought to our, that is the guard's, attention, I will be transferring to Ponyville by the end of this week,” Pete said, taking up right after Twilight to cut off any more comments. His own being one of such significance that even Twilight Sparkle had to shake her head a few times.

“A-are you serious?!”

Pete looked at her, “Why would I joke about this, Twi? Be reasonable now.”

“Pete, this is HUGE news! Why am I just finding out now? Do the others know?” Celestia's student gasped, “Does Rainbow Dash know?”

“No one knows, I JUST announced it. Well, okay, Dash knows. We've been talking about it for a while now, but the others don't know.”

The other Elements had been busy that day, knowing that Twilight and Pete could handle the typically docile townsfolk themselves they had gone about their usual business. Fluttershy was going to be an obvious no show, her own shadow scares that mare, an angry crowd would turn her into a puddle. The end of Fall was quickly approaching, so Rainbow Dash was working on snow for the clouds, and Applejack was finishing up the harvest along with Big Mac. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were working, on what though had yet to be seen.

With a smile and a small gasp, Twilight's horn glowed then the unicorn herself vanished. There were a few more questions, but not many. Pete answered them with a slight smile on his face, mostly they were general about his move, when, where etc. Nothing that truly bothered him, and he was bound for Canterlot once more. The train took no longer than an hour and a half, the usual, and Pete found himself trotting up the steps of Canterlot castle before sundown. A rather amazing feat seeing how long it took to calm down Canterlot, the guards, and Princesses, had expected the blue unicorn to stay in Ponyville over night at least. Which wasn't a stretch considering he'd left around noon that day, but Pete was far to excited about his move. The only thing he wanted to do now was pack what little he had and get settled into his new home before Winter set in. He was walking down one of the halls, making progress to his room, when Luna came up from behind him and fell in with his stride.

“And how long have you been planning on moving, Captain?” she asked, her voice slightly irritated.

“Ever since I shown up. You seriously didn't expect me to live here for the rest of my life?” Pete replied with a smirk.

“Of course not,” Luna rolled her eyes, “but I would appreciate some warning. Dropping the news in the middle of a crisis does not count. Now I have to rush a lot of paperwork, and I can hardly rescind an order I haven't given.”

“Nor would you,” Luna's student replied with confidence.

“Oh? Do I hear a challenge?”

“Do I hear a two weeks notice being written if you do?”

Luna very slowly closed her mouth. She wasn't usually the one to be intimidated, but Pete seemed to have supernatural 'princess perturbing' powers. There were times when he would joke with serious situations, and then there were serious situations that he cast out AS jokes. Though his last statement was said with a smile, it was the dark kind. The kind that you would see on the face of a man on the edge, blissful in the knowledge that he was laying out the perfect threat.

It was the perfect threat too. Pete had despised his new job from day one. He did a wonderful job, some even compared him to Shining Armor. Which was in itself a very incredible compliment by many of the guards. Celestia's captain had set a new bar for what it had meant to be a guardspony, and Pete seemed to exemplify that. Off the clock, however, and you couldn't get a single word out of him about the job, and the unicorn had told his teacher and Princess that if he didn't need the money he would quit. Initially, Luna had found that absurd and thought that he was joking, or even exaggerating. Then one day, a Saturday specifically, Luna had sent for Pete to take a trip to a neighboring kingdom, the Crystal kingdom specifically. A six hour train ride there and back, a couple hours to look around and see what was happening. There were constant reports from Cadence and Shining Armor, but Luna had wanted first hand reports. Instead she got a very, VERY, angry unicorn storming into the throne room in the middle of the day, renouncing his oaths, tossing his armor to the ground and walking out of the castle. Luna had forgotten that her Captain had taken leave that weekend to spend time with Rainbow Dash, he had not been amused at her forgetfulness.

What had really gotten Luna, her sister, and the other guards, had been his attitude. Though he was very clearly angry he never once raised his voice, he did not falter or curse. Rather he was calm, collected, and methodical. His dead expression and the intensity in his eyes set the tone well enough. It had taken a lot of calming on the part of Luna to keep half of her guard from following. They had no idea what had set Pete off, but they had worked with him enough to follow him anywhere. In the space of a year he had inspired a kind of loyalty that made it obvious why the Element of Loyalty, and its bearer, had chosen him as a mate.

Many saw what Pete had done as an overreaction, it was a simple mistake, could have easily been fixed with a letter. Pete had explained his motivations very simply, and very precisely.

His exact words had been, “I know, but you messed up. I'm not a toy soldier, I'll march when I have to, but when I don't, expect hell. I, and every other guard, jump to you and Celestia's beck and call every hour of everyday. Sometimes you two take that for granted, the others won't say anything. Why would they? They get paid, it makes them happy, keeps their family fed, and for some of them it's their special talent. What would they do if not guard? Now me? I've got options, I can do anything I want. Just because my special talent is in dark magic doesn't mean I'm not qualified for other things. I've a wealth of experience to fall back on. So, when I tell you 'Luna, my princess, I HATE this job,' realize I'm not kidding. I stick around because I love this world, and I'll give it everything I have, but if you're just going to send me to the other side of the planet without checking my schedule, two minutes to look at a list that says 'he's off today,' then I'll quit. I'm not a soldier, by any means. Expect me to question everything, and desire the base level of respect I should get from an employer.”

Luna had tried to explain things, but Pete simply refused, a smile on his face the whole time. There was something about him now, an air like that before a storm. Luna had seen his powers first hoof, he was capable of taking things to her level when it came to the dark arts, and maybe that was it. Her knowledge of his power made it seem as though he were constantly about to slide over the edge, but at the same time she didn't see it always. It was a very rare sight, one that sent a chill down her spine. She was certain he would never do it, certainly he would never raise a hoof against her of all ponies, but he could be that serious. He would walk out of the castle and never come back, he had walked away from his own entire civilization literally, and figuratively before. Quitting this job would be nothing for him, the only reason he still held it was because Luna had asked him to.

She almost NEEDED him in this position now, he was a great guard. Though he wasn't much to look at, well compared to the stallion that Shining Armor had been anyway, he had a very regal sort of air about him when he patrolled. He was firm when needed, and lenient when appropriate. He found a balance that had many of the citizens felt favored them, and many of the rich socialites felt favored them. It was incredible, he was truly made for such a position, and Luna admitted that a large part of that stemmed from his desire to be free of the job. So she herself had to find a balance, with him. Which was easy enough, Pete would tell her to her face what he would accept and what he would put his hoof down over. One of her other guards, Night Owl, suggested once that if Luna didn't have the spine enough to deal with her captain, maybe Celestia should. Luna got there just in time to stop Celestia from giving Pete the treasury.

It had scared the Princess of Night how much they both now relied upon his presence in Canterlot, he was the life of the party in such a way that often the nobility wouldn't even notice the Princesses if Pete was in attendance. Which is why Luna had to stop Celestia from giving Pete every bit in Equestria, her sister hated listening to the complaints of the gentry, their usual inability to see basic reason hurt the Princess of the Sun. Pete however seemed able to converse with them in the same level of seriousness as anypony else. Better than that, he was often able to get them to see reason without threatening action, and had gotten several stupid complaints repealed, or turned into actual working ideas saving both Princesses much time and effort. The whole time he never once seemed to be anypony else, never wearing a 'mask' or putting on a show. He was a born politician made into a soldier with the soul of a lover. Luna felt that these conflicting things should have torn the stallion apart, but he seemed to use them all to his advantage. His advantage now being slipping out from where the Princesses had convenient access to his skills and prowess, to a small town that would inevitably lead to his leaving the guard.

“W-well I don't know why you would. Move that is. I-I mean I understand, it's difficult to see Rainbow Dash with the distance-”

“She can fly here in under half an hour, and does very frequently. I don't tell you EVERYTHING I do, Luna.”

“I see, well there are many more advantages to living here,” Luna said, incredibly lamely. The princess was loosing steam, fast.

Pete rolled his eyes as he threw open the door to his quarters, “Like what?”

“Well,” Luna began, stepping into the room and watching her student pack, “We have many more job opportunities.”

“Are you wanting me to quit?”

Luna's eyes went large, “NO! I-I mean, no, of course not, but were you to, there are many more choices here. We have a much more extensive library for your research.”

“Three hours on a train isn't so bad, and I can nearly teleport to the front door of the castle, even from Ponyville.”

Luna, needed an ace, nothing short of an all out attack would stop him. She fell back on the one thing that no stallion she'd ever met could defend. “We have many more mares for herding. Being a young, attractive stallion as you are certainly this-.”

“I'm taken, Luna. Geez, how much do you want me?”

Luna blushed furiously, “I-I assure you-”

“No, trust me, I know your looks. I'm very much aware that making me part of your harem has crossed your mind before.”

“...I'll admit, you're not half bad. There are many more attractive stallions, but few have your disposition and calm. You're not vain, in any way, you're very sweet to everyone, forgiving... the list goes on. You're not without your flaws, but who is?”

“I thank you for the compliments,” he was serious, his look told her so, “But I'm not going to betray Dash.”

“Pete, herding is a natural thing in our culture. Surely you accept that, and you're going to have an impossible time this estrus season.”

“Well, with any luck Dash and I will be married by then. Of course I'm not sure what you give a pegasus in place of an engagement ring.”

“Thou jest!”

“Not at all.”

“We do not think... I don't think you understand, our views of matrimony are very-”

“'Equestrian marriages began roughly at the start of our Princess Celestia's rule. The style had long been herding, our ancestors traditional mating habit, wherein multiple males and multiple females mated together. It quickly fell into disuse when problems such as birthing pains, spousal cheating, and castrations began running rampant. It is now used mostly by large families, often of royal decent, to solidify the bonds between houses, providing an agreement is reached with the harem clause (see section four on page nine for details).' I believe that's accurate.”

Luna was, again, drop jaw stunned. Pete had just recited, verbatim the opening to a history book thats main focus was on the history of Equestrian mating.

“Pete, you don't understand.”

Pete sighed, “Luna, I'm getting very irritated with that line. I understand, now if there is some new information you would like to bring to light that would make me question the EXTENT of my understanding, please, SPEAK. Do not begin, however, with 'you do not understand.'”

“I know that you and Rainbow Dash have been together for a long time now, but that is by human standards, or rather by our terms, earth pony. And our marriage system is not as weak as yours was, divorce is more than looked down upon, it's outright offensive. If, for whatever reason, things don't work out this is not something you can simply walk away from.”

“...I should have been the one to pack my stuff,” Pete said, suddenly looking around, “I don't think she got my ring...”

Luna blinked, “Are you paying attention?!”

“Luna,” Pete responded with groan, “I just recited the opening passage to a book ABOUT EQUESTRIAN MARRIAGE. I understand, you've changed NOTHING. Dash and I talked about this a long time ago, and while I'm pretty sure the idea is on the back burner in her mind I'm already working on it.”

“Then explain it to me! Make me understand your reasoning.”

Pete stopped tossing dressers and looked at the Princess of Night, “...Five years Luna, five years. My plans for marriage always looked like this, date steady for six months, live together for a year, another six months for wedding planning. Two years total. Dash has done over twice that much, and I've never thought about another mare. Maybe if I was younger, maybe more insecure in my love, then herding would be something I would consider. Right now though it's not, nor will it ever be. I love the idea for what it's worth. I've seen many herds out and about town, and I can see why it's so popular. It's just not for me though.

“I don't want to have anypony distracting me from Dash. When she has a problem I want her to know, to fully realize, that it's mine as well. That we're not simply a 'preferred paring' or anything like that, that we are one, unified by bonds that few others have. That we are together, no matter what happens, forever. ...I won't let anyone come between that.”

“...what was special about this ring,” Luna asked, her voice lowered.

“It was my father's,” Pete said, turning his attention back to the room, “It wasn't anything special really, just a simple gold band. I just sort of made a vow on it, nothing important.”

Luna gave a light chuckle, “Marriage is basically 'just a vow.' Are you saying that's not important?”

Pete turned back around, “Given the context, the vow of the ring isn't. I told myself that I wouldn't fail the way my father had, that I wouldn't rush into marriage and end up swearing to be with the wrong girl for the rest of my life. Eventually leaving her high and dry somewhere. Frankly, I don't need the ring and the only reason I was looking for it was to do something symbolic to prove that I don't need that promise any more. I've found her, and I'm not letting go, no matter what gets in my way. ...I guess leaving it behind sort of did that for me, actually.”

Luna sighed, defeated, as Pete turned back to packing. It was mostly already done as the unicorn owned barely anything. His life as a human had shown him that living in excess had brought him no happiness, and that had reflected well on him here. With his basic needs covered by the status as captain he had been able to save up quite a sum of bits in the span of a year, even with the occasional fee being removed for various things.

“I take it you've found a place to live then?” Luna asked, now looking out the door, prepared to leave.

“Yes, I have to speak with the deed's office in Ponyville to get everything squared away, but I found a nice place. Two stories with a small basement, perfect for keeping my research out of the way and providing a nice living space.” Pete chuckled, “I'm actually getting a nice price break on it because it's up the street from Vinyl Scratch's house, and I'm told she plays music at the oddest of times. Plus, it needs some work done, nothing massive is wrong with it, just a few things here and there. Maybe a couple of weekends worth of work, then of course moving furniture and all that noise. ...I also need furniture... hmm.”

Looking over her shoulder at her student's smiling face as he packed filled Luna with realization. This was the natural eventuality of the situation, there was nothing she could say or do to stop it.

“Clasps,” she said, once more looking into the hallway.

“Excuse me?” Pete looked at her, confused.

“Traditionally, when a pegasus is the marriage partner clasps are made, rather than a ring. They secure to the base of the wing next to the body, gently, and serve the same symbolic purpose. Many pegasi use them for decorative purposes, but what sets it apart is the gem stones. Simple, unadorned clasps are purely for looks, ones set with gems denote marriage. After about a week the two of you can remove them. The ring on your horn, and the clasps will be getting rather annoying by that point, especially your ring. They'll have served their purpose of letting all of Ponyville, and probably Equestria, know that you two are not looking for anypony else.”

“...thanks Luna.”

Life Goes On

Her coat was a slightly off white, complimenting her bright platinum mane and golden eyes. It was a description that Pete Powell took in with pride.

“Our beautiful baby girl,” he whispered, as he looked down at the sleeping filly in a crib, “She's definitely got your attitude.”

“Would you expect anything less from our foal?” Rainbow Dash asked her husband quietly from the other side of the crib.

“Not at all,” he chuckled, “I can't say I'd have it any other way either. She's a pegasus too, so I couldn't be happier.”

Rainbow Dash's face fell, “Yeah... it-it doesn't bother you? Being surrounded by ponies that can fly?”

“Why would it? Love, flying was my dream, but I'm not going to let that make me bitter because others have that ability. I certainly wouldn't let it get in the way of my love for you two either.”

“It makes me sad. Like, there's this whole part of my life I can't share with you.”

Pete stepped around the crib and nuzzled his wife's neck, “Maybe you can't in the way you'd like, but you do. Whenever I see you at a show, or when you come home and go on about some trick you can't get down, it may not seem like it but you're sharing it with me then. I can't experience it, but seeing it, and hearing about the intricacies of it are close enough.”

“No,” she began, returning the affection, “It's not. You can't imagine the feeling of plowing through the air at top speeds, nothing but the wind, clouds and sky.”

“No, I can't, but I can see your face when you do it, and that's good enough for me.”

“I love you,” she whispered in his ear.

“I love you too,” he whispered back.

35 years later

“That's the last of them,” Pete said, as he stepped back into the Canterlot throne room, “I've put all the books back where they belong. My life's work is complete, forty five years of research.”

“Pete,” Celestia called, as the blue unicorn started to walk away, “Is there nothing I can do to change your mind about this? Surely you know the side effects of what you're about to unleash upon the world? If everypony lives for thousands of years...”

It was Celestia's last ditch effort. She could not allow this to pass, even if it meant breaking some rules.

“And what could you offer me? You know I don't need money, I make enough as a captain, and Dash brings in double that as the head Wonderbolt. I'm content with all but one thing in my life.”

“Immortality.”

Pete turned around and sized up the princess. Deciding she was serious, he began laughing hysterically, “Do you honestly think I would accept that?”

“Not just for you, but for Rainbow Dash as well. Isn't that what you wanted? You can both live together, forever.”

“Dash is certainly at the top of the list, but she's not the only one on it.”

“The other Elements then? I would hardly find a problem with that as well.” She did find a problem with it, but she would rather have seven immortal ponies than a billion aging ones.

“Yeah, Applejack and Pinkie will be so grateful to be forever in their sixties,” Pete rolled his eyes at the idea of two of his most active friends being old forever.

“Youth can be restored.”

“...and where does it end Celestia?” Pete asked seriously, “Twilight would want Shining Armor, who would naturally want Cadence, and both of them want their kids. Pinkie and AJ would want their families, hell most of them would. Gods, what about me and Dash? Our daughters? You seriously think I would just go 'yeah sure' to this half cocked plan?”

“And do YOU not see what you plan to unleash? I would have thought, I had hoped, that you would see the foolishness of your actions. Your world was so abysmal because of the overcrowding, and your plan to stop aging the whole of Equestria, and possibly the world, would do even worse.”

Pete laughed, “I know. That's why I scrapped that plan about a decade ago.”

Celestia stopped, “Then... what is you plan?”

Luna's former student turned his head so Celestia could get a good look at his right ear. Specifically the gold ring embedded in it.

“I did all that research into life magic, and in the end found it to have been a huge waste of time. My plan had always been to try my best to synch up Dash and I's lifespan. When I realized what extending her life, and eventually everypony's would do, I changed it. I went into the dark arts and found a very interesting spell, one that slowly kills the bearer of the item by leaching away their youth. That's what I've got in my ear right now. If my calculations are correct it should shorten my life down to roughly 300 years at its current speed, and when Rainbow finally... … well, I just have to turn it up to maximum.”

“That's suicide,” Celestia said, her face aghast at this revelation.

“Indeed. Twilight was very angry when I refused to give her my findings, I actually had to burn them, then scatter the ashes to make sure she didn't piece them back together.”

“Pete, no. You don't have to do this, you could live just fine after Rainbow Dash passes. It's still a long ways off as well.”

“Sorry, Celly, but that just isn't in the cards. Never has been, not for me. It was nice seeing you.”

The Princess of the Sun called out to him as Pete slowly trotted away, but he didn't even acknowledge her. It crossed her mind to stop him by force, she could, but it would do no good. As he walked out the large double doors to the throne room Celestia felt a pain in her chest, a familiar pain.

“And now imagine mine, dear sister.”

Celestia looked as her sister, Luna, entered from one of the side doors.

“What do you mean?”

“You've always had the attention of the ponies, the griffon's have their 'All-Maker', and the dragons are too prideful to worship anything. I had the humans. They were my creatures, they flourished and loved the night, and we had to send them away. Despite all my protests, all my arguing, we had to banish them.” Luna let out a deep, shaky sigh, “Then we find them again, and not only do we find them, we find the one that embodies all the good and evil of them. A fantastic example of why even we call it 'humanity.' ...I made him the same offer.”

Celestia was taken aback, “What?”

Luna nodded, now standing in front of her sister, “Yes, just a few hours ago in fact. Beyond that I was willing to go much further than you were. I not only offered immortality for him, the Elements and their immediate families, I offered him myself.”

The alabaster alicorn's gasp could be heard outside the doors on the far end of the room. It wasn't uncommon for the princesses to engage sexual activities, even a few marriages here and there. The phrase 'offering myself' had different meanings for them. Being of immortal souls, Celestia and Luna were much more than they appeared, closer to gods than anything. What Luna had offered, and Pete rejected, was essentially subservience. It was as Pete had said he wished to be for his wife, it was giving the entirety of themselves to another. Everything. It was something that they very rarely offered to anyone, it was the power to command a god. Worse yet was that Luna had offered it atop immortality. In essence, Pete Powell had declined godhood.

“And yes, I explained to him everything that entailed,” Luna said, cutting off her sister's next quarry. “I can't help but say that I would never have been more happy if he had accepted. You see sister, what you have closed yourself off to is something I miss very dearly. Humans are capable of unspeakable acts of love, ponies are too of course, but never to this extent. I would have willingly given anything to have that by my side for the rest of eternity, a reminder that I once had a very special gift, a race all to my own.

“I would have accepted Rainbow Dash as well. Because for all the complaints I raised over their marriage I can see now, and have for a time, the pure love that he feels for her. I mean, look at what he's done! He refuses immortality, the chance to be one of the most powerful beings in the history of this world, and he does it TO DIE! He turns it all down, just so he can die next to her. It's an incorruptible love he feels, and I almost feel silly for thinking I could try. But it hurts, more than anything you could possibly imagine. He's the last of his kind here, though he looks like a pony now his soul is still human, his heart, and I've no choice but to watch him die. Not only naturally, but sit aside and watch as he willingly, gladly, chokes his own soul away. All For her.”

“...the humans complemented you very well, sister.” Celestia said after a time, “Both you and they were very passionate, and capable of unspeakable acts of kindness and terror.”

“I wonder,” Luna said, facing her sister once more, “If the alleged 'All-Maker' is anything like the griffons.”

“Rumors say he's an eight foot tall, four horned, lava bodied demon, with a six foot broad sword made of hellfire. And that he appears before those that do dishonorable things and slays them.”

Both sisters went wide eyed and began looking for the source of the voice. Only to find that it was in their heads. After confirming with each other that they had both heard the same thing, the voice laughed.

“Oh come on now you two. Calm down, I'm just a disembodied voice, no need to get all excited. Just popping back in to see how my boy's doing. Looks like he made the right choice here, though I'm slightly interested in what he would have done with godhood. That's a very rare thing for one of them to achieve. ...I wonder if maybe there's a splintered timeline laying around somewhere I could visit and see...”

“Who are you?!” Celestia shouted, both internally and externally.

“I am the All-Maker. No, seriously, I am. Well, in a way. It's very round about and contrived, but that is TECHNICALLY one of my various titles. I'm sure we don't want to delve into that, we'd be here for eons just getting through one of YOU TWO, let alone myself.

“It doesn't look like Pete's going to do anything really interesting for a while yet. So I'll just be moving along. Nice talking to you two again. Well, one of you anyway.”

As with all previous encounters with this voice, the two were about to respond when his presence simply vanished. On edge, and worked up, the sisters sent word to their students. They wanted to know everything they could about this All-Maker.

And Then You Die

She had been ecstatic to find herself inside her young body. Dash had seen her death coming from a long way off, and she'd gone into it about as gracefully as an enraged monkey. That was right up until the end, when a calm suddenly passed over her. It had been a strange surreal feeling, but not altogether unpleasant. The next she knew, she was in a strange field of grass, her body once more youthful, her muscles back in their prime. There was nothing around her though, it was as though the world ended just a few feet away in every direction but forward. That was where her problems began.

No matter how hard she tried, strained, flapped, she couldn't even stand up. After a while she just stopped trying, unsure of what to do, or even what would happen when she did, she just laid there.

“If this is supposed to be heaven,” she said to herself, “Then this sucks! I can't even stand up.”

As if spurred on by divine cue, Rainbow Dash suddenly found herself being lifted off the ground by a pair of arms. After a moment of situating on behalf of both pony and human, Rainbow was face to face with Pete. She had no words, they simply could not convey what she felt in that moment. The one thing, the only thing, that had made this small field less than paradise had been the lack of his presence. Over the past 264 years she had found that she could endure anything, so long as the blue unicorn had been by her side. Now here he was once more, though no longer a unicorn, that had never mattered. He was her husband, regardless of which form her took, and her love for him was as unfathomable as the strength it gave her.

No words were spoken as the cyan pegasus laid her head on his shoulder and shut her eyes. She knew where she was, and what his being here meant. It also occurred to her that this was exactly what he would do, and she should have seen it coming from day one. Rainbow simply laid there as Pete walked forward following the only path that existed in this world.

They watched as Pete stepped forward, Rainbow Dash in his arms, making slow progress towards them and the ultimate goal. Applejack and Fluttershy watched on with tears standing in their eyes, Pinkie Pie out right bawling between them, at the sight of their friends. Such was the nature of this place. Celestia standing next to them, however, was not pleased at all. This was made apparent by her tone when the human approached.

“This was not your burden.”

“I would argue otherwise,” Pete said, coming to a full stop in front of the Sun Princess.

“The point of this world is to shoulder ones own burdens and achieve peace with their life.”

“And when I married her I swore that her burdens were as much mine as mine were hers.”

“She will have to start over.”

Pete smiled his 'calm before the storm' smile, “Then I'll go back and get her, as many times as it takes.”

Celestia's eyes narrowed, “Then I'll stop you.”

Pete's smile went from calm, to the twisted grin of a madman, “Then I've nothing more to say to you, sunny butt.”

The human turned on his heels and started walking back, his goal the small field where they had started. The three Elements next to Celestia were absolutely shocked, and slightly appalled. Even the Sun Goddess was upset, though she should have seen this coming from the man that was willing to kill himself for his wife.

“And that's what makes this beautiful, Celly!”

Celestia recoiled as an arm was suddenly thrust over her neck. Looking to the side she saw another human, similar to Pete, but at the same time very different. This human was about six feet tall, dressed in all black as Pete had been known to do. His hair was shorter than Pete's was now, and unlike the Pete from the apartment, this human's hair was not flat but rather messy. The most noticeable differences were the sword on his back, and the markings on his hoodie. The black over-wear had the designs of all six of the Element bearer's cutie marks on the back, and featured Celestia and Luna's on the front on the pockets.

“Who are you?!”

“I've been talking in you and Luna's head for like, 200 years now, and you have to ask? Celly, I am disappoint,” pulling his arm from around Celestia, the human stepped forward, “Hey! You with the pegasus, get back here!”

“...I've hardly walked ten feet,” Pete said turning around, “There's no need to shout.”

The other human smiled, “I know, but yelling is fun. Anywho, get your ass over there with your friends, I'm giving you the pass.”

Pete looked at Celestia with a cocked eyebrow, “Can he do that?”

She responded with a “No,” at the same time the human said, “Yes.” Causing the new arrival to look at the Princess of the Sun, a maniacal grin on his face.

“Please tell me we're going to argue about this, or better yet that you're going to try and fight me. I love knocking all of your counterparts around.”

“I'll ask again, who. Are. You?”

“...” The smile faded, “Fine,” he started, his voice suddenly becoming serious, the amused glimmer in his eyes dying, setting fear loose inside of Celestia. “I'm known by many names, most notably for you all would be the griffon's 'All-Maker.' Simply put, we all know that every story about the creation of the world, or any world, typically starts with 'In the beginning there was nothing.' Well, that's what I am, the Lord of Nothing, I hold all the forces of The Void in the palm of my hand. I use these powers to travel from reality to reality and help folks out.

“After you all crash landed in Pete's apartment I made a quick executive decision. Which of course turned into a couple of splintered timelines where the decision didn't work right. This is one of those, and the Pete that passed through a few hundred years ago was the 'real' Pete, or the Alpha Timeline Pete. I picked him because he's actually me, just from a parallel reality where something was different. Don't strain yourself trying to understand the big timey-whimey bubbly stuff, it seems like you never understand it until you've looked at if from above and it all just sorta clicks. The point here though, is that I have powers that are completely unfathomable, the kind that can destroy entire realities. Among my various titles is 'Overlord of Death,' not to be confused with my demonic title of the same name, it kind of gives me absolute jurisdiction in all cases of someone, or somepony, being dead. Because, as the name implies, I'm the Overlord of Death.”

“...and you honestly expect me to believe that?” Celestia asked, calmly.

“Well, here, let me show you,” the Lord of Nothing stepped forward until he and Celestia were practically kissing, “Look into my eyes.”

With a roll of her own Celestia did as she was told. No one knows what she saw, except herself, Kayn, the Lord of the Void, and me. They stayed locked onto each others eyes for a solid five minutes, by the end of the first Celestia had broken out in a cold sweat and her fear was visible to those around her. By the end of the second minute she was crying silently. When it was over, she collapsed on the ground.

“Now do you understand?”

It took her several minutes to recover, when she finally did she looked up at the human, “How do you go on?”

Kayn crouched down, “Because, I have friends that need me. Even if they're not the exact same as the ones I knew, even if there's a million little differences, or even a few big ones, Equestria is STILL my HOME. And I won't rest until every single world is free from the grip of my enemies.”

Celestia sighed shakily, then slowly rose back up, “And this is all you want? Just let them through when the time comes?”

Kayn smiled, the light coming back to his eyes, “Exactly! I'm part of why he's here in the first place, and we both know that all of the 'baggage' that Rainbow feels is stupid stuff. I mean, your test doesn't work right in my opinion. Letting the weight that each pony feels from their individual actions, instead of working on some kind of system for it is silly.”

“Wait,” Pete interjected, causing Kayn to turn around, “What does that mean?”

“Oh, well it's simple. See, the reason why you feel so light is because you have no doubts about the choices you made. That's part of what makes us, these various alternate... well I'll leave him nameless, great. After we have some time to grow, and think about things, we start to get this impossible clarity, and then we feel no guilt about our actions because we know that we're doing what WE need to do. Dash on the other hand tends to be plagued by doubts and worry about some of the most inane stuff, I know I've married her a couple of times myself. So, instead of this working like 'well, that wasn't too bad, so it's not heavy,' it works on how bad YOU feel about it. When it comes to Rainbow Dash she just has a tendency to sweat the small stuff into big giant things.”

Pete shot Celestia a look, “I see,” he muttered.

“Right, so!” Kayn shouted and clapped his hands, “I hope we've got this all sorted out, yeah?”

“If it makes you go away,” Celestia said, looking at the Lord of Void in annoyance. Her new knowledge of his existence not changing how she felt about him personally.

“Excellent! Well then, take care all. Have a good next life!”

And with that, the six were left alone. There was a tense moment of silence as they waited to see if he would come back, when that was over Pete stepped over to the other three Elements and sat down, Rainbow Dash in his lap. There was more silence for a while, then finally Dash broke it.

“So, what are we waiting for here?” she asked, looking between her friends and Celestia.

“We're waitin' for Twilight and Rarity,” Applejack said.

“Yeah,” Pinkie Pie chimed in, “It just doesn't seem right to reincarnate with out all of us being together one last time!”

“Pete,” Celestia said, stepping over to the human, “May I speak with you?”

“Aren't you doing that now?”

“...You're not going to move are you?”

“Probably not. We're dead now, I don't think there's anything you can bring up that I'm going to feel the horrible need to hide.”

“Very well. Why were you so willing to give up your own reincarnation for Rainbow Dash?”

Pete sat there for a minute, a full sixty seconds, just staring at the Princess.

“You're just outright stupid aren't you? I don't give a DAMN what's behind that big golden door of yours. If Dash and I don't walk through it together you can keep it. Seriously, how many times do I have to turn down immortality and ultimate power, and all this other shit, before you and Luna get this?”

There was another tense moment, this time it permeated everypony present. It was more than ballsy to call a Goddess 'stupid,' it was practically suicide. Pete had already done that though, so it was hardly out of his nature. As they all sat there, waiting, Celestia suddenly laughed.

“Yes, I suppose I should have seen this coming two hundred years ago when you turned that down. Though I can't say I saw this particular scenario going the way it did.”

Pete smirked, “Who could? An interdimensional human called the All-Maker staring down the Goddess of ponies? That's just absurd sounding, but it happened.”

After a while Celestia disappeared, the other three ponies assuring the couple that it was normal and that she would be back when the next pony died. Until then it was just the five of them now, sitting, waiting, and reminiscing. In time the other two would show up. First Rarity, then Twilight. After the reunion was over they all stepped through the door together, and on into their next lives.

Epilouge, Act 1

Night Breeze, as he had been dubbed since joining Luna's guard, was one of the few non-thestrals in the Lunar Guard. This had piqued the Night Princess' interest in the bland, gray pegasus, much to the young stallion's dismay. This interest had led the Princess to spend more time speaking with the Private than she normally would have, and, unbeknownst to the pegasus, allow him to ask questions she normally would not answer. It was this peculiar set up that had led to this evening's topic, for the past several days Night Breeze had been having strange dreams that Luna had been unable to view from the dreamscape.

“So, tell me what exactly these dreams entail,” the Princess of the moon asked, as the pair sat alone in her bedroom, making the stallion extremely uncomfortable.

“W-well, I'm in th-the library, I-I think. And, um, someone comes in and starts talking to me-.”

“Somepony,” Luna corrected absent mindedly.

“No, ma’am, he's not a pony.”

Luna's eyebrow raised, “Not a pony?”

“No, he's like a- a giant hairless ape, but he's got some hair on his head.”

Luna's eyes narrowed, “Go on,” she said, her voice low.

“We-well, we talk about someone named Rainbow Dash for a while, and then he leaves.”

“...and that's all? No other name comes up?”

“I can barely remember that one, and only because of how famous she is.”

The princess smiled, “Yes, one of the youngest captains of the Wonderbolts, and one of the oldest to perform later in her life, on top of being one of the Elements of Harmony.”

“Not to mention all her airspeed records and innovations in flight.”

“Yes,” Luna chuckled, “I'm rather surprised you know of her.”

“Are you kidding? What pegasus DOESN'T know about her?”

“Allow me to correct myself, I'm surprised you know so much about her. Most only know pay attention to the titles she held, few of her other accomplishments. It's been almost 2000 years since she passed after all, most of her 'innovations' are just standard practice. But I digress, we were speaking of this dream. Is this reoccurring or are there many of them?”

“There's a couple of them, but they have been kinda frequent. The other one is... more surreal.”

Luna waited for a moment, then egged him on with a nod.

“W-well, I'm in a-a basement or something. Looking over these notes about spells or something, and suddenly I get really excited, like I just figured out something amazing. Then I get really freaked out and start burning the papers. The next thing I know I'm in Canterlot and-...” The pegasus blushed furiously then looked down at his hooves.

“What?”

“W-well it's, it's really not something I-I want to,” he spluttered as Luna rolled her eyes.

“I've seen all sorts of things while traversing the dreamscape, no matter what you say I've seen it a million times before,” she assured him.

“I-I-... okay,” taking a deep breath, still looking at the ground he says, “I'm in the library and you, Luna, are offering yourself to me. ...”

For a moment Luna was stunned. After processing it for a moment she stood up and troted over to the gray pegasus' side, lifted his face with her hoof and looked him in the eyes.

“Think carefully, Private, this is important. What are my EXACT words in the dream?”

Though every muscle in his body was screaming with fear Night Breeze couldn't move, and strangely enough the words came unbidden from the recesses of his mind.

“You say, 'I'll even give myself to you.'”

Luna let go of her guard's face and stepped back. Turning around, she drew in a shaky breath. What were the odds that those exact words, in the same location, would turn up in a dream? Highly unlikely actually, but what it meant eluded the princess.

Meanwhile, Night Breeze continued to panic about what he had said. Sure, maybe there were ponies that had dreams like that, but they weren't in Luna's guard. Worse, they weren't currently alone with said princess being interrogated about the dream. A part of him wanted to flee, fly as far away as he could as fast as he could, but something was preventing it.

“You're sure no other name comes up?” Luna asked, without turning around.

“I'm sure, no one, pony or otherwise, gets mentioned,” Night Breeze responded, his mind still trying to get the rest of his body to function, “Just Pete.”

An almost physical chill swept through the room. Luna stopped breathing as Night Breeze's eyes widened. Who was Pete? He was sure he had never heard THAT name before, only Rainbow Dash. On the other side of the room Luna was having a similar mental debate. The pegasus had said Rainbow Dash before, but had just said Pete, a name she hadn't heard in nearly a thousand years. That fact alone saddened her, especially after all the pain she went through after his passing, but this was not where she had expected to hear his name once more.

“Why did you say 'Pete?'” she asked, her voice calm, her unseen expression one of sheer panic.

“I-I don't know,” the private answered truthfully, “...he was... Rainbow Dash's husband. ...why do I know that? ...why isn't that in books?”

“...Pete Powell was a very, very incredible pony. A unicorn, he worked harder than many I've met before. Managing to not only raise a family, be captain of my guard, and do his own research, but to also aid the Elements of Harmony from his time on almost every occasion, master dark magic that even I struggle with, and keep his sanity. Upon his death we, my sister and I, revealed that he was not a pony, but actually had been a human we had transformed into one. The outcry had been massive, worse when we insisted on burying him with other heroes, though his qualifications for such could not be argued.

“There had been a long standing dislike of humans after a failed attempt at integrating them back into our society. The revelation that one of the most trusted, respected, and potentially most powerful, ponies had been human was disturbing for many. For an equal number, however, it shown that there had been more to the humans than they had known, because the Pete they knew had never been anything other than kind and compassionate.

“Even still, many historians refuse to acknowledge his existence, and even I find it difficult to argue. Many of his accomplishments were mostly done by others, he simply helped. It's as if he wanted to be forgotten. The one thing he did that would have been worthy of history was his research... and he burned it all when he realized the ramifications of it. Though he helped the Elements, he barely did much beyond moral support, his stint as captain inspired loyalty in the guard and marked the beginning of the Lunar Guard's era of public notice, but he did not do anything outstanding, and we could hardly tell others that he was a master of forbidden knowledge.”

Luna's reminiscing was cut off by the sound of the door being thrown open. She turned around to find Night Breeze fleeing as fast as he could. For a moment fear gripped the Princess of Night's heart, then sadness. What she didn't know, however, was what was going through Night Breeze's mind. Every single thing she had said brought up images, words, sounds that he was unfamiliar with, but could recall vividly. It scared him.

Without stopping, he leapt out an open window at the end of the hall and took flight into the midnight sky. With the wind failing to clear his head as it normally did, Night Breeze pushed open the door to his favorite tavern and downed a mug in record time. Calling down another, he trotted to the bathroom to try and clear his mind by splashing cold water on his face. Something he had seen in the movies. Drying his face with a wing, he looked himself over in the mirror and suddenly began questioning everything. These dreams, that he now felt were memories, his perception of reality, everything. Was he even Night Breeze?

“Well, you're not me,” a relaxed voice echoed in his head, causing the pegasus to look around, “Oh man, this is weird.”

Looking back into the mirror, feeling the need to try and see this voice as best as possible Night Breeze opened his mouth, “Who are you?” he whispered.

“Pete Powell,” the voice responded, strangely calm about the whole ordeal, “and this is going to be one wild ride.”

Author's Note

A WILD EPILOGUE APPEARS! Does it denote a sequel to the alternate? Who knows?! I don't!

Act 2

Night Breeze rolled out of his bed hours before he should have. Of course that was to be expected as the stallion had skipped out on guard duty last night to try and drink away the voice inside his head. The head that was now pounding harder than the ground when that dragon visits the Princesses.

“Spike's still around? Nice.”

Loosing a loud groan at the sound of the voice known as Pete Powell, Night Breeze could swear that was the noise on made when they lost their sanity. The previous night was lost in a blur of drink, and the stallion was hoping it would stay that way. Needing the after effects to dissipate quickly however, he slowly trotted to the bathroom for pills and a cold shower. Stepping out and drying off, Night Breeze looked at himself in the mirror and tried to get some information out of this voice. He was given nothing but smug silence. It felt like the first time the voice had gone quiet, and it was somehow more disturbing than any amount of speech it could use.

Giving a defeated sigh the gray pegasus retreated back to his small wooden room and laid back down. He had no choice, he would have to hide this ailment for as long as it lasted, or risk being thrown in the loony bin. It's not like anypony would believe he had the voice and memories of a secret, dead hero that everypony hated in his brain.

“You might be wrong there,” the voice spoke, a slight glaze of epiphany on its tone, “Celestia would.”

It was insane, he was insane. By the Goddesses he KNEW he was insane! Voices in your head aren't normal, well, voices that aren't yours. Yet he listened to it. Night Breeze had walked past the audience chamber and gone right for the Princess' bedroom, where he now stood outside the door. There were no guards in sight, a rather unusual thing, and he was about to tell the Princess that he had a voice inside his head. Everything told him this would go bad, ever fiber of his being, every feather on his wing. Everything but the voice.

“Just let me take the reins kid.”

What does that even mean?

“Relax, close your eyes and relax. Let control slip from you and let me do the walking and talking. From you she might not believe it, from me though? Oh, trust me.”

Once more, another bad idea from this voice, yet something told him to follow it. As he breathed slowly and deliberately there was a feeling of detachment. Not so much that he no longer had control, that it was lost entirely, but more that someone else was guiding him. The best he could do to explain it would be comparing it to possession of the ghostly kind. His eyes were opened, and his body, now in the control of 'Pete Powell,' opened the door and simply waltzed in. It scared the young stallion, not the possession, though that was creepy, but the fact that this voice had the audacity to walk into the room of the most powerful being in Equestria without so much as KNOCKING. Night Breeze silently prayed that their/his death would be painless.

“Luna?” he heard Celestia call from the other side of a door to the left.

Pete looked around. The décor was the same as ever, red and gold. For a princess with an ever flowing mane of many colors her tastes were a bit bland. The royal bed was, like in every other room in the castle, located on back wall at the center, a window to the right of it, a night stand, dressers against the right wall, a vanity mirror on the upper left, and of course the door from which Her Royal Highness' voice emerged from was at the center of the left wall. Other than that the room was decorated rather typically, nothing much stood out and one would have a hard time guessing that this was in fact the room of the most powerful alicorn in the history of the world.

“Don't you ever change anything?” Pete asked, his own will contorting Night Breeze's vocal chords into an attempted mimicry of his old voice. It didn't go well, but there was something about the tone that caught Celestia's attention. There was a flush, the sound of a faucet, and the Princess emerged from what was apparently her bathroom, as it was in most of the higher class suites, a look of shock on her face. Upon seeing the gray pegasus this shock slowly fell into confusion, then turned to abject horror as Night Breeze felt his face contort into a grin.

“Pete,” Celestia breathed.

“Who else but me manages to survive reincarnation?” The voice was once more strained as it tried to imitate his previous life's, but it was the tone that told the Princess who he was. More so was the grin. It was a smile she had seen a million times before, one that could bring her immense joy or pure terror all depending on which side she was on. Considering that she was the one that handled reincarnation of souls, this was against her. It was a smirk that proudly proclaimed the system that she had, to be easily thwarted, broken, and pointless. It arose within her many emotions, but highest among them anger and fear.

“This isn't right,” she said, trying to rein in her emotions, “Pete, how did you do this?”

“No clue,” he replied with a shrug, “I remember the gate, and waking in it. Next thing I know, I'm listening to Luna tell me stories about my life. Except I'm not me, I'm this guy. Who has been having dreams about my old life apparently.”

Celestia thought for a moment. There were a few, FEW, recorded incidents where someone remembered some of their previous life, but not to the extent of reawakening their old selves. Typically they had dreams, vivid, strange dreams that they ultimately ignored. She couldn't think of why he would be the exception. Either way, there was only one thing to do.

“Pete, I … I can't have you just running around like this,” she said, almost with regret, “I don't know what went wrong, but since it has, it could happen again and there's a high chance that you'll end up exacerbating it in others. I can not have ponies that have been dead for two thousand years suddenly coming back and forcing out their new selves.”

“Explain how this whole thing works,” he said, clinically stroking his chin with a hoof, “I mean, how is this even possible? Wouldn't my reawakening destroy the other personality? Or are there, like, multiple souls per body?”

“It's all your soul,” Celestia began, thinking the least she could do was explain, “Night Breeze is you, but a slightly different you. We are all a product of our environment, mixed with our natural selves. Night Breeze has led a different life, but is still you. That is where the division comes from, his experiences clash with yours causing the mind, and soul, to divide.”

“So does silencing me really fix anything? The division is there, we are us now, not he.”

Celestia shook her head trying to wrap her mind around that last sentence, “That's not hardly the point. Over time the separation will heal, but as long as you continue to be active it will only worsen.” The Solar Princess lowered her head as her horn began to glow, “I'm sorry, Pete.”

Fear gripped Night Breeze, not fear for Pete, but for himself. Something deep within him, something that was not Pete Powell screamed for him to run. Escape that room, that horn, as fast as possible. Something told him that spell meant death, and before anyone could react, he screamed. It was an ear shattering shriek of primal terror, and it caught Celestia off guard. Giving the pegasus ample time to take flight and flee down the hallways. His mind was off, all he could do was fly, as fast as possible. Not even the patrolling guards managed to stop him.

It wasn't until his wings basically gave out that he stopped, and even then he didn't so much as stop as slam into the ground and continue flapping his wings while moaning with fear. The locomotion didn't stop either, as soon as he got to his hooves he took off, running this time as fast as possible. When the adrenaline came down, and the fear began to subside, Night Breeze found himself in a familiar corridor. Tired now, and still functioning on instinct, he trudged to the room at the end of the hall. Princess Luna's bedroom.

Night Breeze practically bashed the door in with his shoulder (yes, horses have shoulders), his legs barely able to hold him. His noisy entrance surprising Luna, who was preparing for the coming evening, and his collapse sending her into a near panic. Closing the door and lifting Night Breeze onto the bed, the Princess of the Night attempted to coax a response from him, what she got nearly stopped her heart. A chuckle, and a grin.

“Pete,” she said, her voice almost a pitch for pitch match of her sister.

“Hey there, Luna. Been a while,” the still contorted voice said, “Sorry about the kid here, Celestia threatened to blast me to sleep and he freaked out. I think I've seen more of this castle in the last ten minutes than I did in my 200 plus years of living. He's got good speed.”

“This is what happened last night,” Luna said, “Why Night Breeze took off, he heard you.”

“Yeah, I suddenly heard you talking about me, then realized that I wasn't me any more.”

Unlike her sister Luna was feeling only one thing, elation. Pete's death had hit the Lunar Princess the hardest. She had practically cried for a week straight, and was not seen publicly for a month. Now he was back, in a way, and it filled her with joy. Then, fear. She knew that Celestia would be looking for him, if she wasn't already, and she would send him away, destroy him, something. She didn't know if she could handle his death a second time, not without direct interference this time.

“Hey,” Pete said, calling her attention back to the room, “There's something I need from you,” he said slowly, his breathing heavy from Night Breeze's flight.

“What?” Luna asked, “Anything, just name it.” It almost surprised her how easily those words came, and how sincere they were. How sincere they had always been. She had offered him immortality and essential godhood once before, she would make the same offer now if he so chose. All he needed to do was ask, it was all he had ever needed to do.

“I need a body. My own body, separate from this guy.”

“What are you going to do with it?” Not that it would matter, she would do this anyway, it was simple curiosity.

“Celestia mentioned something interesting. That I might cause others to reawaken too. If that's the case, then I can't go quietly into that night, not without trying to find her.”

“...you plan to find Rainbow Dash?”

The grin faded, replaced by a look of determination that Luna was familiar with. The grin was when he was confident, sure that he had won, even if what was happening wasn't winnable. This flat look was one of defiance, a look that dared all who saw it to trigger the grin.

“Always.”

Author's Note

Well, let's see where this goes. And yeah, Pete seems kinda like a villain now doesn't he?

Showdown

Pete looked himself over in the mirror. Three days ago he, in the body of Night Breeze, had passed out on Luna's bed asking the princess for a new body. Now he had one, though he was rather surprised at her choice. He had expected a pony, or his old form, but he had gotten his OLD form. His human one. He gauged his appearance of being in his late 20's, fairly close to when he had came to Equestria, though a bit younger. The rest of him, however, matched his old description rather well. He was a healthy white perhaps borderline tan, not pasty like when he lived alone in his apartment, lean and slightly conditioned, with his long, dark brown hair down to the back of his neck. He also noticed that his body was lacking in the issues that he had as a human, no tinnitus, or ringing of the ears, and had perfect 20/20 vision.

Of course he'd had to send the first set of clothes that Luna had brought him away. He didn't like to be picky like that, but he had moved past the black clothes stage a long time ago. Black was alright, but not a whole outfit made of it any more. He'd kept the pants, an Equestrian rendition of cargo pants, and the boxers, but had asked for a different color for the shirt. He had brought up the possibility of it being the color of his coat from when he was a unicorn. Pete had grown slightly attached to that color, and to his surprise Luna had brought it. It was a simple, unadorned, deep blue t-shirt, and that was all it needed to be. He had even insisted on going barefoot, another thing that he had picked up while living with Dash in the human world. Though he told Luna that he would need the shoes later when Winter rolled around.

“And take this,” she said, levitating a medal to the newly reborn human.

“My captain's medal?”

“Yes, the same one in fact. With any luck it should help grease the gears as they say.”

Pete looked at Luna. The princess had changed in the last 2000 years. She was taller for one, probably as tall as Celestia now, and she seemed more reserved. But Pete saw through that. Inside she was just as fiery and passionate as before, she had just gotten better at hiding that fact. Though like Celestia, her decorating sense hadn't changed.

“Alright then,” he said, taking the medal with an easy going smile on his face, “I'm gonna head off into town for a bit. 2000 years is a long time, and it might do me some good to work this new body out. ...speaking of bodies, how's the kid?”

“Tired,” Luna replied, “It was a very taxing affair, pulling you and him apart, for him at least. He'll sleep for a while yet as his spirit recovers.”

“That's good. I didn't want him to get hurt or anything, just needed out of there.”

Luna nodded, “And now you are, so go. Take your stroll and leave the medical stuff to me.”

“Even though I'm the one that spent a hundred years studying it?”

“Yes, especially because of that.”

Pete turned around and threw the door open, laughing. Luna shut the door behind him, muffling the subsiding giggles of the human and turned inward once more. She was, as expected, incredibly happy to have him around again. The Princess of Night was very sensitive to certain emotions, as was her sister. At the top of her list was love, Luna loved love. She had enjoyed being around Cadence much in the same way she did Pete, the bonds that they shared with their respective mates was incredible. She had no comparison for it, no way to explain it to an outsider that could not feel emotions the way she could. Luna would give anything just to be near that kind of emotion, and she had made that offer before.

The Captain on duty didn't know how to react at first. Initially he had thought the book carrying creature to be some kind of teenaged dragon, with its bipedal locomotion and use of arms. But the hair on its head dismissed that. The lack of bulk and hooves said it wasn't a minotaur either. Which left him with one idea, Discord. The god of chaos was always traipsing around in some form or another to bother anypony he could. It wasn't bad, and could often be downright hilarious. There were times when his choices were a little vague and highly disruptive though, and not even Celestia could figure out when those would pop up.

Then the captain saw it, up close. It wasn't Discord, it was acting far too tame, and there were certain forms the draconequus was forbidden from taking. The biggest notable being Changelings, but this was on the list too. As he watched it head for the door, almost oblivious to everything around it, he noted the creature. It was fit, lean, but loose, and unprepared. There was only one option.

“ATTACK!”

Celestia ran through the halls, voices shouting all around her as they darted past by air or by land. She had heard that an unidentified creature was in the throne room and that it had defeated her strongest troops. This idea was laughable, mostly because it was one thing to call yourself the strongest, but another to actually be it. Perhaps this creature had overcame some of the better, but she hardly believed it had bested the best. Still, now was not the time for a crisis within Canterlot. They still had not located Night Breeze, as Celestia had found he was called, and subsequently, Pete.

The guard had searched almost nonstop for the past three days and had yet to find anything inside the castle. There hadn't been any reports of anypony flying away in the night, the only possible time to escape Canterlot by air without being caught, but it had recently occurred to the Princess that if Pete were in control then they wouldn't have flown. He was too smart for that and would know of Canterlot air control policy. He would have slipped away on hoof, but the exits to the city were guarded and none of them had reported Night Breeze leaving. A small part of her feared he had escaped. That was, until she entered the audience chamber.

Shock ripped through the Princess of the Sun at the sight of Pete Powell, once more human, standing in the middle of the large, pillared room. To the sides were groaning guards, but not just any guards. Her own personal honor guard, THE best of the best. The shouts had been true, and then some. The remaining guards only hope laid with numbers, of which they had. The human, carrying a book in his left hand, was surrounded on all sides by guards of every race, each prepared to strike at a moments notice. Still, something worried her, a nagging feeling. How had he managed to best all of these guards? Sure, he had proven to be tough a few times, but enough to take down her court's most powerful magicians?

Celestia's captain gave the order, and by then it was too late for the princess to intervene. The moment the guards moved, so did Pete. His right hand glowed dark gray as spells seemed to simply occur around him. Pegasi were tossed backwards by gusts of wind, unicorn spells blocked by opaque black barriers, and earth ponies were launched aside with telekinesis. Overall the display was highly nonviolent on his part, but it did leave many of those flung unconscious, and the drained unicorns would spend days recovering. What was terrifying, truly mortifying, was that he did all this without hesitation and with skills that put even Celestia to shame. The Princess doubted his sheer power, but his ability to manipulate multiple spells at once, many without even LOOKING at his target, left her cold all over. And then, he smiled right at her.

“Well it's about time, finally someone can tell these guys that I can leave,” he said, with a roll of his eyes.

Celestia was more than irritated, she was seething with a cold fury. As her horn began to glow, a shine visible only to Pete whose human eyes allowed him to view magical phenomenon like that, the man's face fell and his hand glowed in response. Celestia let fly a bolt of energy, visible to all, and Pete caught it in stasis midair, then dissipated it with a clench of his fist. The Princess was taken aback. Only three knew that spell's true power, it seemed to be a mere sign of irritation, but it had held the power to kill. Had Pete been a lesser magician, he would have allowed the bolt to hit him and Celestia knew that, she had banked on him being a lesser magician, expected it. The princess had just attempted murder.

There was suddenly a burst of darkness and the third to know of that spells real intent was left standing next Pete. Luna, unlike her stoic sister, was visibly fuming. Her eyes were large, and her ever flowing mane of night was flaring behind her like a battle flag. Already her horn was encased in its own glow, and her flat expression said it all. She was far from amused.

“Just what do you think you're doing, sister!” Luna shouted, though without the ye olde canterlock. She had definitely made improvements in that regard.

“He should be dead,” Celestia replied, her voice calm, and flat.

“And you're the one to do it?”

“If I must.”

“Over my own dead body,” Luna growled through her teeth.

“What has gotten into you, Luna?” Celestia asked, genuine concern on her face.

“What has gotten into YOU? Plotting and attempting to commit MURDER right here in the audience chamber? Are we to be barbarians now?”

“This is nothing like that, and you know it.”

“Isn't it? Regardless of what Pete SHOULD be, right now he's alive. He is thinking, breathing, conscious.”

“And he should not be so,” Celestia said, her anger beginning to show, “I don't know HOW he's done it, or WHY, but he has circumvented an institution that has stood since the dawn of time itself!”

Pete snorted, “Yeah, I did it on purpose. I just could not stand the idea of being peaceful in death with the ones I love, so I had to come back to life, despite being the one to end my own last time, and reawaken them through means I don't fully understand myself.”

“Regardless of your initial intention, the fact remains that you not only are here, but you ARE planning on finding the others. Even if you weren't, your mere existence is enough to bring back lost memories that should STAY LOST. You threaten to unravel everything that has been done.”

“Then fix it,” said Pete, “Obviously your system isn't foolproof if one guy coming back sets the whole thing ablaze. So take this as a learning experience and make sure not to goof next time.”

Celestia fired another bolt, this one larger than the first, and Pete deflected it into the wall with a negligent wave of his hand. The next shot, however, came from Luna. Who hit her sister with a powerful, though nonlethal, blast of her own energy. Sending Celestia flying backwards several feet. The Princess of the Sun's expression as she stood was priceless. Mouth agape, horn no longer glowing, a look of pure shock. Luna, on the other hoof, was holding firm, her face still clearly enraged, and horn still alight with energy.

“I will NOT tolerate another assault on my subject,” she said quietly. Not softly, like Fluttershy, but cold, with an icy indifference that her target was her own kin.

“Luna, what HAS gotten into you?” If her concern hadn't been genuine before, it was now. In fact, Celestia almost looked scared.

“What has 'gotten into' me is the way I've been disrespected since this kingdom began. I've never fit in, never truly belonged, but I stuck it out for YOU sister. I helped you rule over the ponies, even when the humans were born, even after they shown that they were truly MY subjects. You had the ponies, the All-Maker the griffons, the draconequus' Discord, and the dragons refused to believe they were beneath any, but the humans! Oh, how they loved the night! They flourished in it where all others withered, they found poetic beauty and wonderment in the vast, dark unknown.” Luna's expression turned to sadness, “And then came that day. That cursed day when they discovered what laid within their own darkness.”

“The day they discovered just how evil they could be. It led them down a very bad path, and I could do naught but sit idly by and WATCH as I was known as the 'other' pony goddess. Slowly they fell, and in time the day came that we had to intervene,” Luna looked up, her face contorted with sorrow, and disgust, “I pleaded, begged, that we do something, ANYTHING, but send them away. But you didn't listen. You and their cowardly leader browbeat me into submission, and I had no choice but to help you banish them, banish the one race that understood me. My race, my PEOPLE.”

“It's hardly a wonder Nightmare Moon took hold of me so easily, and even then, after all that, you and the rest of ponykind couldn't accept me. I'm always the second princess, the other one. It's always 'Celestia and Luna' never the other way around. Nopony comes to see me, writes to me. I've tried for millennia to bridge this gap, but they're fine with just one princess. One goddess.”

“So I'm taking my stand, right here, right now,” her face reverting to one of anger, “I will defend Pete with everything I have, every last breath in my body. As you would if there were only one pony left alive. I will see to it that anything, ANYTHING, that seeks to do him harm meets with the most tragic of fates possible. I don't care if he intends to dismantle this world atom by atom, I will stop all that dare to hurt him. He is the last of my precious humans, and I WILL NOT let him slip by me AGAIN.”

Celestia sighed, almost as if ignoring her sister's words, “We can find more humans,” she stated matter-of-factly, “Just not this one.”

Luna's face became one of disgust again, “Are you even listening to yourself? Would just anypony do, or would you rather have Twilight back?”

Celestia's own eyes flared, “This has nothing to do with her!”

“Perhaps not, but they are not simply 'things' to be replaced. You can not offer me the lives of SENTIENT beings!”

“Pete is only one, you'll need more than that to...”

“More, more, as if he's some kind of pet?! A goldfish, perhaps? That you just jaunt on down to the local pet store and buy?! Is that how you view your own subjects? Is that why you call them your 'little ponies?' They're replaceable to you?”

“Luna this has gone on long enough-”

“No,” Luna interjected again, taking a step closer this time, “The only thing there has been 'enough' of is your attitude. Lately you have been more stuck up than any of the usual fops in court. It's great to see you finally embracing this 'princess' title, but you're letting it get to your head.”

“Perhaps you could use another thousand years on the moon?!”

“ENOUGH!” Pete roared, stepping between the two, “I've heard enough of this foolishness.” He turned and faced Celestia, “You need to stop acting like a child.”

“What?” she growled.

“I accidentally broke your system, and now you're throwing a temper tantrum because things aren't going the way you planned. Welcome to EVERYONE ELSE'S FUCKING LIFE. Shit happens Princess, live with it.”

Filled with anger, Celestia prepared another spell, but this time Pete stopped it before it began. He teleported right next to her and grabbed her horn with all of his might, causing the princess to buckle under the pain and trapping the magic inside the horn, keeping the neurons inside active.

“Try it,” he dared, his voice calm as Celestia groaned in pain, “I'll break the damn thing. I've sat here and heard both sides now, and you've got NOTHING to back you up. I don't care if you're a god, a demon, human, pony, griffon, dragon, draconequus, you don't have the RIGHT to kill ANYONE. That idea is the first step to madness.” Pete released her horn and slowly walked backwards, his eyes never moving from her horn, to Luna's side.

“I am sorry for that, but you need to stop doing that. I don't know what's happened to you in the last 2,000 years, but god dammit Celestia, pull yourself together. Don't you see what you've done, what you're doing?!”

She looked up, “Don't you see what YOU'RE doing? Remember when you burned your research because of the ramifications? Do that now, look at what you coming back can do! There is a balance that MUST be maintained, and you're doing more than threatening it, you're outright trying to destroy it.”

“He awakened through a flaw in your system,” Luna said, her horn finally losing its glow, “This is your fault, but you have seriously misjudged the consequences and the actions that must be taken to correct it. You have to find out what happened and prevent it from happening again, and killing Pete does not aid in that endeavor.”

“Just listen to what you're saying,” Pete added, “All this talk and your actions, think Celestia! Tell me that this isn't how a child acts, tell me that what you're doing right now isn't the same. ...You could try to, but I've raised two fillies, and this is EXACTLY what they do. They scream, shout, get angry, get sad, break things, pout, and then get over it. You're supposed to be an adult though, worse than that you're several thousand years old! Is this how an adult acts? How the ruler of a kingdom acts, killing something they don't like because it upset them that one time?”

“...”

Luna relaxed completely, then walked up beside Pete. Giving the human a small nod, she approached her sister.

“This isn't about Pete, is it?”

Celestia remained silent.

“Go, Pete,” Luna said, this time Celestia raised no objections, “By the time you return I'll have sorted this out. I think that I've found the cause of my sister's ailment.”

He was worried, for just a moment, but then he decided to trust her words. Calmly, Pete turned around and headed for the doors on the opposite side of the room. Carefully stepping over the immobile forms on the floor. Celestia's captain stood, frozen with fear at what he had seen, and the implications of what he had heard. Luna waited till Pete had left to speak, her words were personal, and came from a place that resonated with Celestia's own wounds.

“You wonder why he didn't come back,” she half whispered to her sister.

“If he could,” Celestia said, her outer shell finally breaking, her stoicism twisting into sadness, “Why didn't he?”

Luna bent down and nuzzled her sister, “I do not know, and neither does Pete. The only one that can find out why is you, dear sister. From there it will be you who decides what to do with the knowledge.”

Celestia breathed shakily, “How did you do it? Deal with this day after day?”

“Harshly. I let it consume me, and run its course. It's a hard thing to do, and I know you've put it off for far too long.”

“I-I can't fall apart, the kingdom needs me...”

“No, sister, again you forget this is supposed to be co-rulership. Take your time, leave things to me, trust me.”

“...that's all you ever wanted wasn't it?”

Luna smiled, “Perhaps a bit more, but it's certainly a start.”

“...I'll leave it to you then. I think it's time I finally... let go of him.”

After Celestia had left, and Luna had aided the medics in removing the injured from the audience chamber, the captain of her sister's guard approached. He was concerned about his princess, and naturally of what he had heard. It was his job to be. Luna looked the stallion over and spoke carefully.

“It was a very long time ago, long before even you.”

“All I need to know is, who caused this?” he asked plainly, “Who had such an effect on Her Majesty?”

“There comes a time, Captain, when even a Goddess can fall in love. Watching them pass from our sight is the hardest thing we'll ever do. The name of the one you ask of is Star Swirl the Bearded, my sister's first, and possibly only, love. I had never seen her so happy, and I haven't seen that since his passing. She wonders now why it was my student that returned from the beyond, and not her love.”

And indeed it was an interesting question. Why had Pete Powell returned to the world of the living? It plagued the minds of both him and Celestia, but not Luna. The Princess of Night was simply happy to have him back, to bask once more in the love that almost perpetually created, even if he was unaware. It was a simple thing to tweak out of him, simple word, or phrase and it almost poured from inside him. Luna knew, as did her sister, that he would be successful in his endeavor. He would find the Elements of old and reawaken them. The question was simply, would they stay? Two thousand years is a long time, and their families had long since past, were they to awaken they would do so to be alone, but for each other. Luna worried about this, and she feared seeing his face when the inevitable occurred. That one of them would choose to slip back into nothingness.

Revival

It was as though nothing had changed. In two thousand years the biggest advancement had been telephones, that was all. And that sent a smile across Pete's face. Clearly the princesses had everything in their hooves. He couldn't count the number of times they had told him how pointless most of the technology his world had developed was, and before long he had believed it. Seeing how much different the world may have been had magic been a thing was startling. There were no cellphones or ipods plugged into ears causing the citizens to drown out their world, no televisions blaring bad programming designed to numb minds, he loved it. Not even the stares of said citizens could put him off his mood, and there were stares. Not a single pony he passed didn't gape for at least a full minute before fleeing in arbitrary fear.

He continued walking down the street, the general flow of traffic going the other way. For the most part that didn't matter, they gave him a rather wide berth. There was one, however, an earth stallion, that had his eyes on the ground, and Pete with his head in the clouds. Their collision was inevitable. Though not a very large incident, it got a very interesting reaction.

“S-sorry, Pete,” the stallion muttered as he walked off, causing a wide smirk to pop up on Pete's face. The human took a moment to register the pony's looks before continuing his walk. On top of that, the little bump had given the human the perfect idea for how to go about reawakening the memories of the others. That stallion didn't know him, he couldn't have. So, that was a simple, natural reaction, and that was how he would find the others. By literal accident. Much in the way Luna had accidentally woke him up, he would do the same for the others.

“And this is the first step,” Pete muttered to himself, “My presence has not gone unnoticed, and it will spread far and wide. No matter who, or what, Celestia has made them, the tale of my return will spread and they will too.”

Chuckling at the ease of his plan, Pete continued wandering, getting his bearings for the city once more. There had been a few minor changes, but for the most part nothing was all that different. It was basically the same street layout as it had been two thousand years prior. Feeling safe in that knowledge, Pete directed his unshod feet towards the Southern wall. Specifically the large, single, stone tower that jutted up from the slums of Canterlot. He walked through the more desolate part of the city with weight, and purpose. Causing the usual ruffians to question attacking the large beast that was walking their streets. When he approached the tower, they held back. When he knocked, they fled.

The door slowly opened a moment later, revealing the face of a mare. White coat, with a very blonde mane, and piercing red eyes. As the mare studied the human through the gap in the door the single visible eye slowly faded to a deep ocean blue. The door closed, then opened fully, though the owner was no longer near. With a lazy smile on his face, Pete walked in. He didn't jump when the door slammed shut behind him, or when the candles lit the way into a small sitting room to the left. His demeanor remained casual as he took a seat and was served tea by unseen forces.

“You're as unflappable as ever,” a slightly annoyed voice said from the other side of the room.

“Of course Mary,” Pete replied, taking a tentative sip of the tea, “Coming back from the dead is, as you said, the ultimate ride. How could your parlor tricks instill fear in me where death itself did nothing?”

The mare from before stepped out from the shadows, “Yes, but you were like this before as well.”

“Death didn't scare me then either.”

“That 'plan' of yours,” she rolled her eyes, taking a seat in front of her guest, “I didn't expect you to go through with it, quite frankly.”

Pete chuckled, “You weren't the only one.”

There was a dreadful pause, a silence filled the air, broken only by the ticking of a clock somewhere nearby. The kind of moment that made the average person tense up, yet Pete remained unphased, almost detached from the moment. All the while the blonde pony watched him, his every move and minute gesture.

“What are you doing here?” she finally asked.

“I need to find out what's gone on these past 2,000 years.”

“And I'm your first choice? I'm flattered.”

Pete set the cup down and looked the mare in the eyes, “I'm certain by now news has gotten to you about what happened in the castle earlier. The princesses are busy, and you're the only other being I know that holds the status of immortal that isn't Discord.”

“And why not Discord?”

“Because I simply can not handle him. He's obnoxious and flighty. I need a history lesson, not a clown.”

“And so you walk right into the lair of a vampony. Throwing all caution to the wind.”

Pete smirked his infamous smile, “I've handled you once before, Mary. Don't think I can't do it again.”

Her eyes locked onto the human's teeth. She studied them, each and every curve, flat, and point. She gave a rather racy exhale each time she glanced at his canines.

“I always wondered about you, and I KNEW I was right.”

“About what?”

“You're an omnivore,” Mary said, her voice slightly awed, “Like me. Teeth for both plants, and flesh.”

Pete laughed, “It's too bad I'm a vegetarian, huh? So how long have you thought this?”

She stood up and turned around, “Since the moment you smiled at me almost 2,000 years ago. You remember it, right? That night in the alley?”

He relaxed, leaning back in his chair, “How could I forget? A string of assaults on upper class ponies, each victim drained of at least 40% of their blood. I had no idea vampirism existed in Equestria at the time. Worse yet, I was still looking for a method of immortality and this presented very interesting data.”

It was Mary's turn to laugh, “Yes, that was all you saw me as for the longest time. A research subject. A rat to be prodded and tested.”

Pete frowned, “What?”

“Oh don't play like that, it was so long ago I don't even care anymore.” Pete waited for her to continue. “Fine. You surely can't tell me you don't remember all the researchers that took samples. All the 'scientists' that ran their 'tests.' Flashing lights, spells, needles, sunlight...”

His smile fell into a mask of stone. “Interesting,” he growled, “I didn't order any of that. If you weren't dealing with me, personally, I didn't have a hoof in it.”

Mary looked at him with a small smile, “Does it bother you that much?”

Pete met her gaze, “I'm going to have a 'chat' with Luna when I get back. I do not condone such activities, and since I was supposed to be the only one studying you...” His hanging silence spoke volumes.

“Even so, the ones that did it are long gone by now.”

The human shook his head, “I don't care. This is about principal. If Celestia or Luna wanted to know something they could have asked me to find out. Instead they subjected you to the kind of experiments I was afraid the humans would have performed on them back in my world. I would have expected them to know better, considering the situation they were once faced with.”

“Don't you think you've done enough?” Mary looked away from her guest, “I'm alive, that's what matters.”

“Bloody Mary, alive?”

She turned back, “You know what I mean!”

“Yeah, a lukewarm corpse with a still heart and the last of your kind.”

“...are you always so blunt?”

Pete crossed his legs and sat back, “I'm merely stating fact. You aren't technically alive, Mary, and haven't been for thousands of years.”

A stifling silence filled the air for several minutes as Mary stared at the human. Finally she built up the courage to ask something that had been plaguing her mind for the last two thousand years.

“Why did you save me, back then? Luna ordered you to kill me, but you didn't. Why?”

“How many kills do you have?”

“Why?”

“Because I don't think you've ever killed. I was the lead investigator and I found zero evidence that you've killed. I went back a very, very long way and nothing you said, nothing you did, pointed to you having ever killed someone. You live a different kind of 'life' that requires you to do things you'd rather not. Why should you be punished for being fooled?”

Pete stood up and approached the pony in front of him. For just a moment Mary was afraid. She had been born in Canterlot long ago and had never left. She was not used to creatures that dwarfed her by comparison, even the princesses filled her with some level of fear, though for slightly different reasons. But then he lowered himself to her eye level.

“You are the last of your kind because of a curse of acceptance. The mare that did this to you tricked you, and you know that. I remember the day I cornered you in the alley just outside this tower. I can remember how helpless you were against me and my power, how easily it would have been to carry out Luna's orders. ...and how you begged me to.”

“... I had already been alone for over a thousand years. Nopony would accept this curse, and I wasn't going to trick another like I had been.”

“I know,” Pete said, soothingly, “Your mate had perished during the Nightmare Moon incident, one of the many creatures of darkness that rallied with their new princess and met destruction at the hands of Celestia's guard. That's why I didn't kill you, you had suffered enough.”

Bloody Mary looked Pete in his eyes, “If only you'd accepted my offer.”

“I thought about it.”

“If I'd known about your true disposition,” she nodded at his sharp canines, “I might have tried harder.”

“It wouldn't have worked,” he winked.

“Perhaps, perhaps not. We'll never know now. What could have been... ...enough of this,” she declared, stepping back, her voice becoming more serious. “It was a nice trip down memory lane, but I suppose it's time to leave the past buried where it is. You came to learn about the last 2,000 years, not reminisce, so let's waste no more time.”

Pete's inquiry was detailed, asking about many laws passed, inventions made, any changes in socially acceptable behavior, and general knowledge about any important figures. By the time he had gotten everything he wanted it was late, the moon hung full over his head as he approached the castle and he could see the guards shaking by the bright light. He walked past them without incident and headed straight for the audience chamber. He found Luna upon the throne listening to a group of aristocrats complain about himself.

Upon hearing the complete list of complaints, the human answered each one individually, in great detail. Unable to think up any more arguments, possibly on account of being scared out of their minds, the gathered ponies fled. With a dark smile, and an equally dark laugh, Pete calmly stepped up the stairs to his Princess.

“Good evening, Captain,” she said, a faint smile on her own lips.

“And good evening to you, Princess. How goes things?”

“My sister will be temporarily indisposed, she's finally in mourning after thousands of years,” she responded to his raised brow.

“I see," considering this, Pete decided not to dig into the royal pair about Mary just yet, "I won't pry any further than that then. I've finished my first rounds, as you can see, and I must say I'm impressed. You've managed to incorporate some things much better than my own world did, and almost nothing has changed.”

Luna smiled, “Well, physically the city is much the same, but the world as a whole is a different story.”

“So I've heard,” he said, momentarily reflecting on his cram session with Mary, “I think I'll retire for the night and start fresh in the library in the afternoon. I've still much to learn, yet again, and it seems like you'll need my help with some things. Especially with Celly out of the picture for a time.”

Luna nodded, “Very well. Get some rest Captain, and I'll thank you for whatever aid you can lend.”

Pete gave a short two finger salute, then proceeded to his room. Over the last two thousand years things had changed in government rather awkwardly. For whatever reason the three races, somehow unsatisfied by having two leaders that physically represented all the races, the wings of a pegasus, magic and horn of a unicorn, and the large size and strength of an earth pony, had chosen their own 'princesses' to represent them. There was still much intermingling and there was a noticeable lack of racism between them, but the whole of Equestria had been rather quietly divided into three parts. One for each race, and a small castle built for each of the princesses along with their own guards. For the most part this was fine, it meant there were more guards per square inch of nation, and it meant that there was a step between the mayor and Celestia/Luna. There was some slight dissension though. Some believed the new three should take over, some believe that Celestia and Luna should take the three out before the former can occur, and some from each side think there should be only one princess of Equestria.

It irritated Pete just a bit. Personally he was fine with these three new princesses, from what he heard they kept things quite civil and did a good job maintaining order. What bothered him was the ponies that felt they needed more power. It was those kinds that pushed towards war, and Pete would have none of that. Even if it killed him again.

At the Gala?

It was the day of the gala. The three princesses had arrived and Pete was feeling less sure of himself than before. Well, less sure of himself wasn't quite the phrase. He had simply found most of the princesses to be moderately terrible. The unicorn princess was a complete snob, and understandably the less liked of the three. She had gone so far as to bring her own servants with her, feeling the Canterlot ones to be inferior some how. It would take all his strength to not start a war with all three half nations just to kill her.

The pegasus princess, Sunstreak, was a rather magnificently white pegasus with an appropriately golden mane and tail. A cutie mark of a solar beam, and a refined, yet down to earth air the captain enjoyed. Easily his favorite of the three, and generally well received by others as well. Though many dark whispers surrounded her, saying that behind closed doors she was much less regal and much more heated. This made him like the mare further. It told him she knew the time and place to be cocky, and when it was time to be diplomatic.

Finally there was the earth pony princess. A very stark contrast to the two before her, the ungraciously named Mud Hole, was brown on brown with a very calm attitude. She was almost indifferent to everything around her to the point of being ridiculous. Though the rumors about her were quite straight forward and simple, she was fair. Never taking any side more seriously or with more favor than the other. An exemplary example of earth pony morals. Also a very ironic stick in the mud.

The whole situation had been made worse two days ago as well. After giving Luna the night he felt she deserved, Pete was more than shocked when the princess arrived at court an hour later still human. With high levels of shock traveling around, stories began flying left and right about scandal. Luna had then made a simple declaration, that she had never felt truly accepted by the ponies, that the humans had been her true subjects, and that she regretted letting them slip away. She declared that as soon as her sister was recovered she would essentially step down as co-monarch of Equestria, and that the only thing keeping her there at the moment was her concern for her sister. She refused any talks about reverting to her previous form, and insisted that those that didn't like it leave. A few left, many stayed for the sake of amusement, a few for serious problems.

Luna had also introduced herself to the princesses in her new form, causing even more of a stir. So now, on top of finding the remaining four ponies, he was constantly watched (more than before) and was the center of a many stories. At the moment he stood on a balcony above the main ballroom, looking down on the party. Luna had arrived in a dark blue dress that he was certain she had enchanted to sparkle with star light. Watching the party with a listless gaze, Pete's mind drifted to the last party he remembered. Pinkie Pie's twentieth birthday party.

Memory Lane: Sugar Cube corner, three thousand years ago

The six mares stared in shock at the sudden violence. Before them was a terrified unicorn, Fixit, with a bloody muzzle and on the verge of tears. Between them and he, was Pete, the dark blue unicorn enveloped in a black/gray aura that denoted dark magic. Around them the party had come to a sudden halt, almost every pony in Ponyville staring at the scene in the corner of the room.

Almost all of Ponyville had known about Pinkie Pie's issues during estrus. Earth ponies had the hardest time keeping themselves in check, and despite what many would think Pinkie was a rather conservative girl. Her personality had led many stallions to try and woo her into bed, and these undesired attentions would escalate during heat. It wasn't estrus at that time, but there was alcohol abound, and Fixit was more drunk than Berry Punch on any given day. It had been his bad luck that Pete, possibly the only pony in the whole town that didn't know about Pinkie's problem, was standing right next to the party pony.

He made a very unflattering remark, Pinkie Pie tried to brush it off, but Pete stepped up. Fixit got angry, “You're already married, you gave up your right to any other plot. So back off!” That had been the wrong thing to say. An instant later Fixit was propelled backwards with enough force to make the party cannon look like a toy. A sick crack had been heard as he slammed into the far wall, along with making a physical crack in the wall. He tried to stand up only to be savagely beaten down by Pete's magic.

Panting with exertion, Pete turned and faced the Elements of Harmony behind him. Slowly looking them in the eyes, all but one. Taking a deep breath and extinguishing his aura, he closed his eyes and spoke.

“How long?”

They looked at each other with apprehension, but Pete knew that one would respond.

“Since practically forever,” Dash said, a note of sadness in her tone. “We try to help, but what can we really do?”

Opening his eyes, a fire burning within them, Pete walked over and placed himself in front of the pink party pony. Looking out on the crowd, some more rowdy than others, but none trustworthy any more. With an agonizing pace he scanned the crowd picking out the stallions that looked at each other with fear, making note of them. Finishing that he stomped his hoof once, calling any wandering attention back to himself.

“The next time I hear about this, I'm taking it right at face value. You'll get no official inquiry, no investigation, and no mercy.” His tone was dark, the threat blatant. “I had thought that this was a nice place, a quiet town with good hearted ponies. ...I guess I thought wrong. If I so much as hear a WHISPER that some stallion is making unsanitary comments about Pinkie Pie,” he gestured to, the now unconscious, Fixit in the corner. “That will be you.”

After that the party, which had already been winding down, died, and everypony went home. All but seven. After helping nurse Redheart toss Fixit on a stretcher, Pete joined the Elements of Harmony in cleaning up the party mess. He was wiping down a table when Rainbow Dash floated over to him.

“I-I should have told you,” she started lamely. “I knew about this stuff going on but-”

“But you didn't think it was your place to say something. You'd tried helping before and it just never worked out. You wondered what could I do that you girls hadn't already tried, right?” Even after the scene he'd just caused, and Dash feeling that she should have told him SOMETHING, he was smiling.

“Twilight even sent a letter to the princess once,” Rarity said, magically tossing a sack of trash into the can. “None of us really expected her to do anything, but... well it was a nice gesture.”

“Rainbow Dash got a lot of it to stop once when she beat up a couple of guys in the store,” Pinkie chimed in with a smile. “...but then estrus happened and...”

“Well I'm not bound by either of those things,” Pete declared. “Celestia can't come around and stomp out bullying personally, and when estrus hits I've seen how it turns into every mare for herself. But neither of those things effects me that much.”

“You can't just beat up everypony in town!” Twilight practically shouted, “You'll go to jail!”

He turned and flashed the purple unicorn his almost signature smirk, “Miss Sparkle, I am the law.” Getting a rousing chuckle from his wife and Pinkie Pie for his reference Pete turned serious again. “Honestly, they take me in, send me a letter. I'll walk out and deal with it and go back.”

“That's not how jail works!” Twilight shouted exasperatedly.

“It will if they put me in it. As if they could hope to stop me from just waltzing out whenever I felt.”

Twilight gave up after that, as did the others. In a few days the incident would reach the ears of Luna, who would attempt to give her far off captain a lecture. A lecture that he would promptly ignore, laugh off, and once more do as he pleased. By that time even Celestia had agreed to let the situation lie, and it did in fact improve. Less talk about Pinkie Pie's nonexistent carnal activities was spread, and once the truth got out a few well intentioned guys shown up.

Before that though it was after the clean up, the others had gone home, and Dash had made a quick trip to the bathroom. Pinkie Pie and Pete were alone in the main area of Sugarcube corner. The unicorn was breathing a relaxing sigh when the pink earth pony threw her hooves around his neck. With a gentle smile he placed his own forelegs around her waist.

“Thanks,” she breathed into his ear.

“Any time.”

The ball

Letting out an exasperated sigh Luna's captain, and imagined fiance, peeled himself from the railing around the balcony and made his way down the stairs to the main ballroom. He couldn't avoid being the main attraction all night. Of course as soon as he stepped out onto the floor Luna was at his side, for no reason other than to prove how preferred he was now. Her declaration that she no longer wanted to be considered one of the pony goddesses had gained her the ire of almost all of Canterlot. Even Celestia had given her sister strong, and loud, words. None of them swayed her.

After giving Luna some small instruction on formal human dances, of which Pete was no expert at all and was capable of giving only light instruction on the box step he learned in fourth grade, the princess was drawn away by Shimmering Gale, the unicorn princess. Seizing the opportunity of the break Pete stepped over to the refreshment table and downed several glasses of wine in rapid succession. As a stunned unicorn waiter took away the empty cups, the now slightly inebriated captain turned and faced the party at base level. It was quiet, except for the music in the background, all the voices were just below speaking tone, but the cacophony raised into a mumbling tide giving the illusion of many loud voices. The dance floor swirled with colors, some vibrant, some muted. The politicians had all gathered at one end of the hall, most likely talking shop, with a few aristocrats trying to barge in every few moments to get their does of self importance in.

Sighing at the sight, Pete turned away to find a bathroom. The party had started four hours prior and he had been standing in view of the public for most of that. Deciding it was better to suffer the gazes of the aristocracy and find a bathroom than wet himself, he went to the far side of the floor, and exited the ballroom near the musicians. The corridor was dressed up for the occasion, this being the hallway all ponies were directed to when asking about a toilet. Halfway there he encountered a familiar situation.

“Aw, come on now princess,” the dressy unicorn closest to Pete said. The captain identified the two instantly, they were related to Shimmering Gale, her brothers. They were also notorious for using their station to impress mares. Equestrian womanizers in essence.

“Yeah, everypony knows about the itch your hoof can't scratch when it comes to earth ponies,” the one furthest away said, his tone as smooth and slimy as oil.

Princess Mud rolled her eyes. “Please, gentlecolts,” her voice nearly annoyed, “I've heard this a million times, and it won't work. I'm not impressed with your self given titles, and I'm less impressed with your manner of speech.”

The first one laughed, “Oh come on now, it's just us here. Almost all of us noble born have heard the tales about you. All proper and level headed out here, but a real vixen in the bed!”

The laugh that followed was what tore it. Above all things it was this that Pete would not tolerate. He would never understand the mentality that others held about 'no' meaning 'try harder.' There was persistence, and then there was being a sick nuisance to everyone you meet. He could even understand that a few mares would like those pick up lines, everyone was different, but when someone basically tells you “Not interested, you're gross, get out of my face?” It was time to go, and these two had a bad reputation for not getting the hint.

“You heard the lady,” he said, making his presence known. “Just leave, before I get violent.”

The one closest to Pete took a couple steps towards him, chuckling. “Look, we all know that you're sleeping with Luna. So why don't you cut a guy a break and let someone else pick up a kinky princess?”

Curiosity took hold first. “'Someone else pick up a kinky princess?'”

“Well, if she's with you, Luna can't possibly into regular rutting.” He laughed again, the kind of obnoxious, self righteous laugh that made sane men's blood boil.

With a growl and a flare of magic the brother furthest from Pete was tossed several feet backwards, as the one closest was strangle held up into the air. Keeping his left fist clenched at his side, he allowed the black gray aura to surround him visibly. The pony in his magical grasp began to kick wildly at the air as the glow began to envelop Pete completely.

Since his return to life Pete had lost touch with whatever baser magic he'd had before. His normal magics had manifested in a deep blue, same color as his coat had been. Now he had nothing but the dark powers he had learned to master. The loss of his other magic was not so great, to him. He had hands once more for more mundane tasks, the only true reason for him to cast spells anymore was for combat. The dark look of his magic then gave him a useful edge, fear.

Out of the corner of his eye, Pete saw the other brother rise and begin to cast his own spell. With a swipe of his hand Pete slammed the floating unicorn into the wall, next to the princess, and raised his other hand. Already prepared to fire a spell and take his opponent out, Pete decided to give the stallion a choice.

“You can try it if you want to, but I'll stop it. Then you'll be against the wall like your brother.” The stallion paused, his aura wavering with doubt as he looked at his kin suspended in the air. “I'm going to give you a way out. Run, now. Find your sister, and beg for forgiveness. If she gives an official apology, I'll drop the little incident.”

The thought of fighting crossed his mind for only the briefest of moments, but news had spread of what ponies were calling 'The Dread Captain' and his fight with Celestia. No matter what folks thought, Celestia and Luna were still the most powerful alicorns, and this magically inclined ape had defeated one and was currently herding the other. His dark magical aura, which at this point had only been rumored to the other royalty, was what had brought about his title as the Dread Captain, and it was in full effect now. It spread all around his towering form and tendriled off his body like smoke, casting menacing shadows that danced across the floor, as if closing in on the terrified prince. He fled, as fast as he could, his shouts echoing for miles in the almost completely empty corridors.

With the lesser offender off, Pete turned his attention to the one choking against the wall. With a negligent toss of his hand he sent the white and blond pony sailing down the hall. As the remaining prince coughed and began to stand, and splutter curses, Pete flared his magic and made a slamming motion with his right fist. Once more the invisible force at his command violently forced the pony flat, and this time into unconsciousness. Pete waited for a moment, letting his aura fade to just his main hand before extinguishing it completely.

“Are you alright?” he asked, turning to the princess.

She stared at him for a moment, unsure what to think. Suddenly her lime green eyes grew wide, and a nearly face breaking smile spread across her face.

“PETE!” She shouted the name with a high pitched tone that nearly shatter the glass behind him. In a single move she bounced straight at the tuxedo wearing human, gaining enough height to be face level with him. In an instant she wrapped her fore legs around his neck and kissed him square on the lips. She pulled back, giggling, and bouncing her hind legs into his knees.

It had taken only a moment for him to realize, to connect this exact situation to the one he had remembered. To place the voice and actions to the mare. With a smile of his own spreading on his face Pete pulled the chocolate colored pony close to him in a tight hug.

“Pinkie Pie!” He didn't shout, with her head being next to his and all, but the feeling was there. The pair stayed like that for a few moments before Pete set the newly awakened mare down.

“What is going on?!” she shouted, half confused, half excited.

“In a nutshell, there's a hole in Celestia's reincarnation plan I slipped through it some how. Now I'm trying to find the rest of you girls. I've already found, well half of you now actually, but Twilight didn't want to come back, and Fluttershy is recovering right now.”

“Ooh! Is that why I look like chocolate?”

“Yeah. You've actually sorta brain jacked some other mare's body. ...which reminds me. We need to find Luna and get you into your body ASAP.”

“Silly, my body's dead.” Pinkie replied, following Pete as he made his way back down the hall. Leaving the unconscious prince on the ground.

“Yeah, but Luna made a new one, like how I'm in my old human body?”

Her eyes widened as she noticed, for the first time, that he was once more human. When they arrived at the door Pete had exited the party from moments ago a thought struck him, stopping him cold. He needed to convince Pinkie Pie to stay in the hallway while he got Luna. There was no telling what kind of damage the fresh eyed party pony could do in the form of a princess. It was risky, but his only hope.

“Pinkie, listen,” he said, turning to face the pony with a sigh. “I'm going to be honest. Behind this door is a huge party, like the grand galloping gala.” She nodded in response. “I need to go in there and find Luna, but I know how you get around parties so-”

“So you want me to stay here so I don't get lost?”

He blinked in confusion, “Uh, yeah, actually.”

She smiled, “Okie dokie lokie!”

Pete made his way slowly through the door, keeping an eye over his shoulder. Stepping back into the party with genuine surprise that Pinkie would actually wait in one spot, he looked for Luna. Thankfully her new form and tendency to gravitate to his position proved useful and it took no more than a minute to find her. Getting her away from the curious gawkers was another challenge altogether, however. Ultimately it took nearly five minutes to get the princess dragged away, and each minute the fear in his chest that Pinkie would simply walk off, or worse enter the party, grew.

“You are telling me you left Pinkie Pie, the most notoriously random Element, ALONE?! In the body of a princess no less?!” Luna's whisper was harsh as they made their way along the wall.

“I'm sorry, but what else could I have done? I couldn't walk in here with her next to me, then all three of us walk off like that. And who knows what she'd have done once she got in here!”

The pair held their breath, and hoped against hope that she was still there, as they opened the door. They both let out a massive exhale as the found her standing exactly where she had been when Pete left. Exactly.

“Pinkie,” Pete said, closing the door behind him, “You could have moved around a bit, you know? Just sorta stayed nearby?”

The words were lost on her ears, however, as she was busy looking over Luna's new form. The Princess of Night explained her change, almost in more detail than Pete would have liked had he not stopped her from going further. Pinkie Pie seemed to understand, roughly at least, why she had done it, and embraced the change.

Once more in a stroke of once a night luck, the halls were mostly empty, save a few of Luna's guards, meaning the three proceeded to the infirmary without being stopped. Once there Pete began his slow sleep spell as Pinkie hopped up into a bed across from the still asleep Low Tide. Leaving things in her captains capable hands Luna stepped off to ready Pinkie Pie's new body.

“Hey,” she called to Pete, her voice slowly going back to the Princess' and her eyes getting groggy.

“Yeah?”

“When I'm back, and me again, there's something important I need to say.”

Pete chuckled, “Something you can't say now?”

Pinkie shook her host's head, “No, it's too important to say from somepony else's mouth.”

The human's eyebrows arched, “Really?” She nodded with an affirmative sound that fell into a yawn. “Alright. Take a nap, and you can tell me when you wake up.”

“Y-you gotta promise me you'll think about it when I tell you, okay? Pinkie promise!”

He laughed, in his entire double life span of knowing the pony he had never once had to make such a promise. “Alright, alright. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” he recited, mimicking the actions as he did so.

With a content smile on her face she drifted off to sleep, and Pete was rushed out of the room soon after by Luna. Her obvious concern being that he might be able, despite the ability stemming from her godhood, to recreate the magic that she used to bring his friends back.

Slowly walking down the hallway, making his way back to the party, Pete was abruptly stopped by the unicorn princess. He brother was trembling behind her, a whimper escaping his mouth a few times. They stood there facing each other for a moment, Shimmering Gale obviously seething with rage. Pete on the other hand was calm.

“We need to have a talk, captain.” She said, spitting the word captain.

Pete but smirked and said, “Lead the way, princess.”

Confession

He followed the unicorn princess to her chambers, her cowering brother steps ahead, though Pete wondered if the stallion was more afraid of his sister or the Captain himself. Either way their march was unimpeded and the trio were soon in a very decadent room. Unlike Celestia and Luna, whose rooms followed a rather predictable pattern, this room was a hodgepodge of anything and everything that was, or at least looked, valuable. Everything was gold and jewel encrusted, or at least appeared as such. Pete could investigate, a simple spell would tell him how much gold was actually in the room, another could tell him if the jewels adorning the gold were even worth a bit. This was not his concern however. No, his concern was with the princess in front of him and her frightened kin.

“My brother tells me you assaulted him in the halls,” she said, bluntly.

“Did he also mention that him and his other brother were harassing the earth pony princess?” Pete's voice was calm, the mare's attempt to throw him off balance was weak and obvious.

“And since when are a few pick up lines 'harassment'?”

Pete leaned forward from his stool, “When the mare being hit on says 'go away' and your brothers corner her.” He didn't break his deadpan tone.

The unicorn stuttered for a second, caught off guard by the Captain's frank nature. She was used to dealing with ponies that, if not genuflected, at least viewed her with dignity. The 'Dread' Captain, however, looked at her with plain eyes. To him she was not a princess, she was an obstacle. She was familiar with that look, she'd seen if on her own face before.

Several thoughts raced through her mind. Initially they were haughty, a 'who does he think he is' train of thought. Which naturally led her to Princess Luna's appearance that night. The same form as her captain. The bond was far more than implied, several stories were already abound, and if half of them were true she was dealing with the most powerful creature in Equestria. The Princess Luna had not so much as considered a suitor in the past 2,000 years, but less than a week after his return... She would have to tread carefully now. Bending her will to another had never come easily to Shimmering Gale, but she saw the usefulness of such acts on few occasions. Most of them dealing with the alicorn princesses directly, but given his obvious proximity to the throne it would not hurt her to rein herself in.

“I-I didn't know about that,” she lied. Shimmering Gale was well aware of her brothers tactics when it came to women.

Pete cocked a brow, “Then it won't hurt you at all to apologize for their behavior to the princess when she recovers.”

“Recovers?” The tension in her voice was obvious. Her brothers had never hurt somepony before, and if they had...

“Trauma from their harassment.”

“I see. Yes, of course I will. Their display tonight was certainly undignified.”

The other end of the castle

Luna sat, resting, as she watched the pink pony's slowly breathing form. It had been a full ten minutes now and the princess still felt drained. It had been barely a week since the last time she'd performed the ritual, hardly any time to recharge herself and already he'd found another.

“If this is the pace he intends to keep, perhaps I should just do the spell en masse,” she said to herself, closing her eyes and leaning back.

The shifting on the bed didn't bother her, it was normal. The soul would be working to reestablish connections to the body. Tossing and turning was normal. In fact, it wasn't until she heard hooves on the floor that her eyes opened. She was far more than surprised, almost in catatonic shock was a closer description, at Pinkie Pie standing in front of her. The pony stretching out as if she'd simply woken up on any old morning.

“Pinkie!” Luna exclaimed, “You! How are- how CAN you be moving already?!”

The pink mare giggled, “That's easy silly. I've got things to do. I can't lay around all night.”

“No, Pinkie, I'm saying that what you're doing is impossible! You can't possibly be fully augmented to your body yet.”

“Really? Seems alright to me.” Pinkie said, then bounced around the room for a minute to prove it. “Now, I have to go find Pete!”

Luna blinked, “For what reason?”

The mare giggled again, “It's a secret!”

The princess paused for a moment and considered her choices. Finally, seeing Pinkie move for the door, she stood.

“I'll go with you. ...I-I have my own things I must tell him.”

Pinkie shrugged and the princess followed. First they visited his room, finding it vacant. This made Luna concerned. She had expected him to be on stand by, waiting to hear how the spell had gone. Something important must have come up. Voicing this idea to Pinkie Pie, the pair made their way to the ball, still in progress.

A few minutes of walking around and talking to ponies found everything in a state of security. Nothing was wrong, yet no pony had seen Pete since he'd left with Luna. Fear began to gnaw at Luna's heart. This party was common knowledge, even to more unsavory sorts. Her mind began to race with possibilities. If someone wanted to do something evil this was the place to do it, and Pete was possibly the biggest obstacle to that goal.

Suddenly, the room began to spin, and Luna found herself short of breath. Giving just a bare “excuse me” to the pegasus she had been speaking with, the Princess of Night fled the ballroom. Her slightly dramatic exit noticed by many. Safely alone in the hallway she began to take deep breaths, closing her eyes in an attempt to focus her mind and vision.

“I must still be worn out,” she muttered, opening her eyes slowly. “Reattaching souls was not meant to be a regular occurrence.”

As her breathing, and mind, settled down, the door behind her burst open. Whirling around, Princess Luna found Pinkie Pie and a strangely drab unicorn. She was unclothed, something that would be normal under different circumstances, but the party behind them was a game changer. If she was with the royal staff she was out of uniform, if she was with the unicorns then she was oddly naked. Shimmering Gale insisted that almost all of her wear something, typically suits and gowns at all times in an attempt to seem regal.

“Pinkie, who is this?” Luna's voice was back to being calm, though what remained of her shock Pinkie attributed to her recent door scare.

“I dunno! But she said she saw Pete.”

Luna blinked, then stared at the unicorn. “Is this true?”

She nodded, “Yes. You-you are talking about the other, um, human, right?” Luna nodded. “Well, I saw him as I was leaving my room, down by Princess Gale's suite. The Princess and one of her brothers were leading him to her room.”

Luna gave a slow nod, she knew where that was. It was a short distance away. “Might I ask, however, who you are?”

The unicorn gave a small laugh, “No pony important. I'm just Princess Shimmering Gale's seamstress. Picked one of a dozen.”

“Very well. Thank you for the information.”

With that the unicorn gave a bow, then trotted off to whatever Pinkie had interrupted her from. After watching her go the mare and the woman set out, finally with a destination in mind. There wasn't any speaking between them like there had before, Pinkie now being caught up to speed on roughly 2000 years of events. It was a swift, nearly silent walk, the only sounds breaking the silence being the sounds of hooves and heels on stone as they went. They arrived at the unicorn princess' quarters just in time to catch their prey as he left the room, giving a small nod to whoever closed the door.

Luna picked up the pace, out stepping Pinkie by a wide margin, reaching Pete just as he turned around, and embraced him. Much to the Captain's shock. Pete had no idea what had happened, but could feel the princess' worry coursing through her being. He steadily wrapped his arms around her slender frame. It surprised him, only just now, how small she actually was by comparison.

Pete was still confused, even as he hugged Luna, but said nothing. Whatever had happened the princess would reveal, or not, of her own accord. They stood in silence for a solid minute before a certain mare's giggle caused Pete to look behind the princess. For his second shock this evening he found Pinkie Pie, already up. Slowly breaking Luna's grip, he made his way towards the pink pony. Luna relinquished her hold, satisfied, and watched intently.

“Pinkie,” Pete half whispered, “Is that seriously you?”

“Well, I don't know about 'seriously,' but it is me! Who else would I be? Well, other than that other pony that I'm not any more.”

Pete stifled a laugh, “Yeah, that's you. How are you already up though? It took me like three days.”

“Like I told the Princess, I have something to tell you and it can't wait! So there's no way I was going to sleep for three days.” She said the last part while rolling her eyes.

“And I came with her,” Luna spoke, stepping to Pete's side, “Because there's something I should tell you as well.”

The still suited human scratched the side of his face with his middle and ring fingers. “Hmm, well this stuff sounds kinda important, but is it so drastic that we need to talk about it in the halls? If it is, then by all means, but I'd rather be somewhere a bit more comfortable right now.”

“Like Shimmering Gale's room?” Luna asked with a smile.

“No, that was far from comfortable.” Standing up and looking at the pair, taking their continued silence as consent to go elsewhere, Pete suggested his room.

The two voiced no objections and within a couple of minutes they were all getting comfortable. Luna had taken up on the edge of Pete's bed, and was eye level with the room's owner. Pete himself was seated in a chair he'd had made specifically for his new human form. Large, cushioned, and obviously not for a pony. The chair was right across from his bed, facing the far window, though Luna now obfuscated that view. To their left was Pinkie Pie, the mare sitting on a cushion that was the typical seating for a pony. Though it left her a few feet shorter than the two human's eye level.

Having removed his shoes, socks, suit jacket, and tie, Pete was now much more relaxed. Having stretched to work out the general kinks in his body from the overtly physical evening he was now half way sunk into the chair. He allowed himself to relax for only a minute longer after his guests had seated themselves before pulling himself back up to attention.

“So, apparently you two have news for me?” He asked, looking between them.

“I'll let Luna go first,” Pinkie said, “She is a princess and everything.”

Pete shifted his gaze to Luna. “Well, I guess that means you're up Your Highness.”

Luna smiled faintly at the last part, but the smile quickly faded. “Very well. It's about my new form, and the night we spent together.” Luna watched her captain's reaction carefully. “I apologize in advance, but I couldn't see any other way to make it happen.”

“Make what happen? I'm fairly certain I'm the one that decided to-”

“No,” Luna cut him off, her voice going quiet, “Not that.”

“Then what?”

The Princess of Night, once known as the most terrifying being in Equestria, unleashed a shaky breath. There was no way she could have gone on without telling him, she knew that, and it was the most terrifying thing she could think of having to do. It scared her less than all the months spent apologizing for the Nightmare Moon ordeal, more than reconquering her powers of night and darkness.

She opened her eyes, and looked right into Pete's. “I'm pregnant.”

Pete's blood froze, he was half way to magically setting himself on fire to make sure he didn't freeze to death when he realized it was just shock. He began to slowly work his way around the idea. How could she be in just one night? This question was quickly answered by 'she is a goddess, she could be whatever she wanted whenever she wanted.' Nature bent around her will, which meant... she chose this?

“I-I can understand your surprise,” Luna said, hurriedly trying to placate the stone still captain, mistaking his state of pure shock for calm rage. “But you don't have to worry about it. I know how you feel about Rainbow Dash, and with the rapid success you've had in finding the others I'm sure it won't be long before you two are back together. So I'm not going to expect you to do anything with the fo- children. I just thought you should-.”

Her sentence would remain unfinished, however, as Pete sprung forward and slapped her. Luna's head jerked to the side from the force, her eyes wide with surprise. Slowly she turned her head back and looked up at Pete.

“Don't you fucking say that,” Pete growled. “Like it or not … those are my kids. So don't you think for even one god forsaken second that I'm going to pretend they aren't, or be one of those worthless assholes that just abandons children. If you seriously thought that I would just go 'oh, okay' to that then you must seriously have forgotten me, Luna.”

“I just-”

“I'm not going to argue this Luna, I'm not. This is not a discussion, this is me stating fact. I don't care if you're an immortal god, raising kids is hell, and doing it alone is next to impossible. It's not impossible, but it toes the line very much. It may have just been me, or my mother, but I'm not going to take that kind of chance. I'm not going to be the kind of man my father was.” Stepping back, Pete collapsed into the chair behind him. “I have no idea how to explain this though.”

“Explain what?” Luna asked, her tone gentle.

“'Hey kids! I'm your dad, but I'm married to this flying pony instead of your mom, but I'm still gonna be your dad.' Seriously? What-how do I even...? I can't even comprehend this. Not to mention the shit message that kinda sends out.”

Once more Luna's reassurance was cut off, this time however by Pinkie Pie. The princess sat, mouth open slightly in response, as the pink mare stepped over and climbed up into the chair with Pete.

“Well, that one's easy to fix,” she said with an eye roll. Pete arched an eyebrow in question.

A moment later Pinkie was standing on her back legs, forelegs pinning Pete's arms down at the elbow. Her expression serious, the mare pressed her lips against his. The kiss was short, but unlike the one before it was passionate and lustful. Pete did far more than contemplate tossing her off, however he didn't want to hurt Pinkie, and with his arms pinned the only option he had was his magic. His dark magic that he had not tested doing anything short of tossing someone violently. Instead he simply resisted slightly, tensing his arms to break free as soon as he was able. Less than thirty seconds and Pinkie pulled her lips off his.

“I don't know exactly when,” she said with half lidded eyes, still close enough that Pete could feel the breath from her words, “but I fell in love with you. I-I never settled down you know. Even after you sorted all those guys out I never found one that clicked. I kept hoping that... that you'd come around. That you'd get over those old human things and... …” She sighed, “But you never did.”

Pete sat in shock for the second time that day. Pinkie had never said anything, and he'd never guessed. Suddenly things started clicking though.

“Every Sunday, you came over.” Pinkie nodded. “You were always on call to foalsit.”

Then the memory of her death surfaced. She had been the first of their friends to go, and the hardest to let go. The next would be Applejack a full twenty years later. Everypony said the same thing, she had been too young at age 68. Such an idea was jarring to Pete at the time, 68 was a fairly respectable age. Then he considered the other earth ponies, 80 was even a fairly rare number while 90 came much closer to the average.

What stuck out though, what suddenly occurred to him, was that she passed alone. She didn't die next to someone that loved her like the others. Nothing like what he had been able to do for Dash. He stared into Pinkie's eyes as he thought, the mare viewing each of his emotions as he was hers. And a twinge of pain echoed through his heart. Pinkie had been the one to suffer this, and she'd smiled the whole way. Even now she was smiling.

His arms went from primed for escape to putty in a single moment. He just sat there, unable to say anything at all. There was no amount of apology that could be said to rectify what had passed. So he thought. He turned all his brain power to one single though, one idea. One question. 'Can I love more than just Dash?'

It was more than ethical to him. It was almost spiritual. Then there was the mare in question. How would Rainbow respond if she came back to find he'd accepted other lovers? Already how would she respond to his infidelity with the Princess? Could she love him after all of this? He had betrayed the Element of Loyalty. No matter what he did that much was already certain.

“When,” he began, the single tear slipping out of his eye quickly becoming a flood, “when did you suddenly mean so much to me?”

Sometime, he wasn't sure when, but some time ago Pinkie had become something more to him. Looking back on it now he could see the strange limbo they had been in. More than friends, but less than lovers. To both Pete and Rainbow Dash. Had he clung to 'foolish' human breeding unknowingly? Perhaps, or perhaps he had done so subconsciously, understanding in the back of his mind why. Either way he had hurt her. This wasn't like others, though. A few times during his stay in Ponyville several mares had shown interest in him and he had brushed them all aside with resolute words of love. All of which failed him now and for the simplest, most obvious, and most painful reason. Somewhere, either in the hundreds of years of life or thousands in death, he had grown to love Pinkie Pie.

He suddenly found that each day he had gone without her smile had been almost empty, her laugh like a timeless composition of music. And it scared him. It worried him that perhaps while the love for her had grown his love for Dash had weakened. The past, the future, suddenly they scared him. It had been too long since he had known fear, and it had taken him some time to realize what the feeling gnawing at him was atop his sadness and love.

Slowly Pete pulled his arms out from under Pinkie's hooves and wrapped them around the fluffy mare. Burring his face into her chest he felt her forelegs draw tight around his head, tears streaming down his face the whole time. In this embrace he said three words, for better or for worse.

The next morning he would wake up with Pinkie Pie snuggled up on him to his right, and Luna on his left. He would kiss them both on the forehead before slipping away as quiet and gently as possible to the shower. There Pete would stand underneath the warm cascade of water until it turned freezing and then longer. The whole while contemplating. He loved them, and as far as he could tell he loved Rainbow as well, where ever she was. The question still echoed in his mind, no matter how hard he tried.

After what I've done, will she still love me?

Moonlight Confessions

Pete emerged from the bathroom just a couple of minutes later. He hadn't wanted to muss up his suit clothes any more than he already had, so he found a quick change was in order. Stepping out into the room, however, he noticed the absence of a certain royal. Doing a very short once over of the room, he locked onto the bouncing pink mare he'd confessed to moments ago.

“Where's Luna?” He asked as if he expected Pinkie to tell him that she was hiding in the closet.

“Dunno,” she responded, “She left just a bi~t after you went into the bathroom.”

“Did she say anything at all?”

Pinkie stopped bouncing on the bed and shrugged, “Just that she had something important to do.”

“... how exactly did she say it? Anything unusual about her tone?”

“Nnnnope, it was pretty normal.”

Pete shifted his tone to a very near monotone, “Like this?”

Pinkie smiled, “Yup! Kinda tired sounding, maybe she went to bed?”

In his years of service Pete had grown to know understand that tone. It was Luna's sad tone. The voice she put on when events didn't quite transpire the way she wanted them, and for this instance Pete could guess why.

“If she'd waited two freaking minutes,” Pete groaned, “Pinkie, I've gotta go find her.”

“Why?”

Pete sat next to the mare on the bed, picked her up, and snuggled her to his chest.

“For better or for worse you shown me something tonight Pinks.” He said his words solemnly, just below speaking tone. “It doesn't stop with you. I- … I love Luna too.”

“I know,” she replied with a smile.

Pete gave a small chuckle and squeezed Pinkie tighter, “I don't think she does though. So I've got to go make sure she knows. Otherwise she might think up some stupid reason to keep away from me.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Because she's silly like that. She isn't used to folks wanting to be around her, so she'd rather push them away before they hurt her.”

Pinkie's eyes got sad as she looked at Pete. “You mean like you were, back in your world?”

Pete blinked. She was right. Luna was doing exactly what he would do. Tell everyone that he hated them, and that they were unimportant so that he wouldn't feel hurt that they didn't like him. Reflexively he pulled the mare closer to his chest, and she hugged him tighter in response.

“Yeah,” he whispered, “Exactly like that. So I have to go find her.”

Pinkie nodded and Pete left. Running a hand through his hair Pete looked down either side of the hall. Taking a moment to think about where Luna would be, he exhaled then started towards the Princess of Night's bedroom. He was worried about the kind of state she might be in, and really hoped that she wasn't upset to the point of slipping back into the old Canterlock. His worries proved unfounded, however, as reaching his destination revealed that Luna was not in.

Muttering to himself, mostly curses, but trying to pass a few ideas occasionally, he figured that she might not have been lying completely. Perhaps there were some duties left to attend to. Namely the party. It was getting late, and certainly the mysterious disappearance of the only alicorn princess in attendance would have affected the party. Pete expected it to be over by this point, Luna had been gone for over an hour. So she may have gone to apologize to the gentry that remained, and help oversee clean up. It was a long shot, but all he could come up with at the moment.

He turned and started to move down the hallway, back towards the ballroom, when fatigue hit him. The whole night had been draining both physically and emotionally, and it was catching up all at once. Pete growled in frustration before slapping himself on the face. Righting himself he stuck out an arm and snapped his fingers, focusing on the ballroom and exerting magic. At the click of his fingers he teleported to the center of the room, and found it deserted.

Scratching his head in confusion, the captain looked around. There were a couple of maintenance workers, and a few maids. Coming full circle his eyes eventually fell on a pure white pegasus with a golden mane. Princess Sunstreak. After a moment the pegasus turned her head, and her eyes locked with Pete's. They stared at each other, and then she rolled her eyes and waved him over with a wing. Having no way out Pete walked over beside her, the princess staring out the large window into the garden beyond.

“Captain,” she said as he approached.

“Princess,” Pete nodded, standing beside her with his arms crossed casually.

“How are you this night? The events of the evening would have left me utterly exhausted.”

“Much as you describe. Quite tired, however, it seems Luna has run off somewhere and I need to find her before I can retire for the evening.”

Sunstreak laughed, “Are you always this formal?”

“Only around the royalty I like,” Pete smirked.

The pegasus gave a mock bow, “I'm honored.”

The time Pete laughed. “So, what brings you out here at this hour?”

“Trying to unwind from the party,” she replied, righting herself and resuming looking outside.

“Can't do that in your room?” Pete asked, turning to look out the window as well.

“Not unless I feel like being swarmed by servants and pestered by messages from the other royals.”

“Ha, welcome to the world of royalty, Sunstreak. Imagine being Luna or Celestia.”

The mere mention made her shudder, “No thanks, I have enough problems with my own territory, let alone the whole of Equestria.” The pair sat in silence for a moment before the princess once more spoke. “So, why are you looking for Luna?”

Pete tensed, “There's … something important I have to tell her.”

Sunstreak cocked an eyebrow, “So important it can't wait til morning?”

“No, I have to do it now, while I've got the courage.”

Her eyes went wide in surprise, “What could possibly be so mighty a notice that the Dread Captain needs courage to speak it?”

Pete smirked and looked sideways at the princess. “Wasn't that a touch formal?” The princess stuck out her tongue and Pete laughed. “What I have to tell her is … personal, and if I don't say it tonight I'll either wimp out forever, or she'll find some way to avoid talking to me.”

Sunstreak laughed, the sound oddly musical to Pete. “You sound like a school colt reading to confess to his crush!”

“That's oddly accurate.”

Slowly the laughter died, and she stared at him. “You're serious? … She's taken on the form of your kind, and you haven't said that you love her? It's fairly obvious that you two are...”

“Yeah, seems that way, right? But the thing is there's … there's this other mare, and we've been together for a long time. We were exclusive, married even.”

Sunstreak gasped, “Wow, that's a pretty big deal. So I guess herding is out.”

Pete nodded, “And that was fine, but now, tonight, I've found that she's not the only one I love. I'm afraid of what she'll think, but I've already told another mare, and then everything that Luna's done... I can't ignore that stuff.”

“What happened to her?”

“... We died.” Pete had no other explanation, and it almost seemed silly to try and hide it. Sunstreak was once more visibly shocked.

“DIED?!”

“Yup, close to 3,000 years now, more like 2 and a half though. I don't know when, if it was when I was alive before, or sometime after we died, but I fell in love with others. I'm working on finding them, her and my friends, but now I'm worried about how she'll react when she gets back. If I don't do this though I don't know if I could go another two hundred years of living.”

“Who was she?”

Pete smiled, “Rainbow Dash, former captain of the Wonderbolts and Element of Loyalty.”

Princess Sunstreak looked at Pete, her eyes squinted. Then they became as big as plates, and bigger, with realization.

“THE Rainbow Dash?! YOU'RE HER MATE?!”

Pete physically recoiled from the shouting. “Yes! Sweet Luna, why is that so shocking?”

The pegasus princess recovered, then bowed. “Please, forgive me. I-I should have known. Who else would hold such a strange name as Pete?”

“Thanks,” the man in question replied, sourly.

Sunstreak righted herself and shook her head. “No, I what I mean is … Among the races there are ponies we idolize as being perfect representations of our race.” She paused, then her eyes once more enlarged. “You're searching for the ancient Element Bearers! Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity!”

Pete sighed and nodded, “Yes, my friends.”

“Well, it's actually them that we idolize, or some of them any way. The earth ponies,” Sunstreak continued, spurred on by Pete's quizzical look, “idolize Applejack. She's what they see as being the perfect earth pony, strong, honest, hardworking, and very family oriented. The unicorns, Twilight Sparkle. Smart, an avid student, curious, determined, and well versed in magic.”

Pete stifled a laugh, “Yeah, don't forget a bit obsessive compulsive, occasionally paranoid, and so dedicated that she once went an entire week without sleep trying to figure out what ended up being a spell to make pudding faster.”

The princess bit her lip, trying not to laugh, “Well, we do gloss over such failures in our heroes. All the races are guilty of that as well. And, of course, we pegasi idolize Rainbow Dash. Fierce, loyal, quick as lightning, and a genius of flight. We've all heard the stories about her, and her family. None of them ever describe the stallion she was with in much detail though. The best we'd been able to uncover was his name, Pete Powell. We had no idea where such a name came from, but the stories always put him in the same spot, very close and important to Rainbow Dash.”

Pete closed his eyes and began to recollect his past. “I was a unicorn. Luna's student in the same way that Twilight was. It was pure chance that I met Rainbow, one of Twilight's experiments went horribly awry and the Elements of old and the princesses found themselves in my world, the human world.” Sunstreak gasped. “They were trapped for a time with me, and as they were Rainbow and I grew closer, closer than I'd gotten to the others anyway. When the time came for them to leave, she came back, feeling my life was in danger. … She stayed trapped with me in my world for 5 long years. When the others came back we refused to be parted, and so Celestia and Luna changed me into a pony. I came out a unicorn, much to the disappointment of both me and Dash.”

“Why?”

“Simple,” Pete smiled, “I wanted to fly. When we came back here things became very serious between us, and I'm sure history has the rest. We got married, had some foals, then died. Now I'm back, and now there's complications.”

Sunstreak thought for a while on the problem. It was true that herding while married was a terrible crime, even the most lax of marriages could break from such a violation of love and trust. Simultaneously she wondered if a two thousand year old marriage still held, and what being brought back from the dead affected in it. Surely Rainbow Dash would see that there was a chance that she might not have came back at all. On the other hoof, it's possible that the former Element of Loyalty would be the most upset by such an event from the stallion she married.

“Well, I can see why you're so worried about that. I think though that, of all ponies, she would be the most hurt by what you're doing. … but also, being your wife, she'd be the most accepting.”

Pete floundered in confusion for a moment before managing to utter, “What?”

“I know, it sounds confusing, but hear me out. I think that, of any pony, she would be the one to understand how you feel. If this is really important to you, and judging by what Luna has done it is, then she'll understand why you did it. Even if it hurts her for a while, I think she'll understand.”

Pete clenched and unclenched his fist a few times, thinking over what Sunstreak had said. Finally he nodded. “Thanks,” he said, with a smile, “I feel a bit better now, but I still have to find Luna. If you'll excuse me.” He gave a short bow and started to walk away, wondering where the Princess of Night could have gone.

“She went to her room,” Sunstreak said, Pete turning to face her, but the princess remained facing the garden. “She came by earlier, to talk to a couple of diplomats, then told them she'd speak to them later and retired to her chambers.”

Once more Pete said thanks, then teleported to the outside of Luna's room, grumbling. He had to have JUST missed her on his way to the ballroom. If he had, in fact, walked there, this night would have been over with half an hour ago. Rubbing his face in irritation, he knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” Luna asked from inside, not in a curious way, but in a demanding tone.

“It's Pete,” he replied, removing his hand as he spoke.

There was a pause before she responded with, “I'm sorry, Pete, but I've just gotten into bed. Can it wait for tomorrow?”

Again, her voice was more authoritative than questioning. Pete ran his hand through his hair again, letting out a loud sigh.

“Nope,” he said plainly, then opened the door and walked inside.

Luna was standing, still in her ball gown, in front of the wall mounted mirror. She had been looking at herself in the mirror, but was now focused on her uncouth intruder. Pete shut the door behind him and sighed again, looking at his princess and clucking his tongue. After a moment Luna's mouth gaped open, then fixed into a slight snarl. Irritation filling her veins she walked up to Pete, intent on telling him off, for a variety of reasons, when he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into a kiss.

Luna struggled for a moment, confused more than anything, but soon melted into the kiss. It was long, and passionate, lasting over a full minute. Luna was slightly shocked at the display of romance, more beyond its sudden happening, with how into it Pete became. She had seen him kiss Rainbow before, but never like this, and guessing by how he'd kissed her like this the previous night it was special. When the kiss was broken, both were panting, and Luna almost dared to admit that she was aroused to Pete.

After catching her breath Luna shook her head and looked right into Pete's eyes. “What is the meaning of this?”

Pete responded by laughing, and placed his forehead on hers. “You had to run away,” he whispered, “Luna. That confession wasn't just for Pinkie.”

A blush slowly creeped up Luna's cheeks. “Y-you can't mean-” she stuttered.

“I do Luna. I love you. I've loved you since you started to teach me about my dark magic, all those years ago. I put it aside, I had to be faithful to Rainbow Dash. After everything that we've already done though, I can't ignore it any more. I love you, and Pinkie, and Dash. I can't imagine a life without you three, even if we're not all together in a herd. You three are just perfect to me.”

“But Rainbow Dash will certainly-”

“We'll worry about that when it happens,” Pete said, sadness in his tone. “I might not find her at all, or she might be happy with whoever she's become. No matter what though, I can't let this sit inside me any more. Two and a half thousand years is long enough Luna.”

Tired, physically and mentally, Luna could not raise any more objections. She was worried, she had not intended for any of this to happen the way it had. She was happy, by far was she happy, but if Rainbow left Pete … the human would shatter. Luna knew him that much, it would break him. She didn't want to be part of that, but he had forced it upon her now.

Moments later, at Pete's request, Luna found herself once more in his room, Pinkie Pie snoring lightly on the bed. As the pair of humans laid down and began to drift to sleep, Luna couldn't help but feel fear. This was more than she could have asked for. Not only would she restore humans to Equestria, but now she had a family, a complete family, and a herd. This was wonderful, it filled her with unspeakable amounts of joy. What killed her though, what filled her with dread, was that her happiness would come at the cost of another's. As she started to fall asleep Luna did something she'd never thought she would do. She prayed silently to her sister. She prayed to Celestia that everything would work out, that everyone involved could be happy. Then she did something familiar. She cried, because she could not believe that even her sister, the Goddess of the Sun, could make everything work out the way she wanted it to.

Coup

“You sure about this?” Pete asked the mare formerly known as Applejack.

She nodded, “Yeah, I'm sure. It's … it's real hard to think about all my family, Pete. They're gone, no matter what you do, they're still gone.”

Pete nodded slightly, “I thought that's how you'd see things.”

“I'm sorry.”

“No, don't be. This is entirely up to you girls, I'm not the one making the choice. We'll miss you though.”

The mare looked up at him, and even through a different set of eyes Pete could see the sincerity in them. “I'll miss all of you too,” she said, before turning to the waiting Princess of Night by the garden's entrance. Luna would lead her off to a secluded room and put her “back to sleep” inside her current form. The host body would remember nothing.

That left only two, Rarity and Rainbow. Pete sighed and looked up at the tall tree he and Applejack had just talked in front of. His mind idled on many different things, possibilities, worries, and eventually he sighed again. With the gala over the other princesses should have returned to their homes. The earth princess had left as soon as she had recovered, but the pegasus and unicorn ones had stayed.

Pete had been much too distracted to care though. Pinkie and Luna were almost always about and had came up with some kind of romancing for each night the past week. While he admitted that moonlight picnics were sweet, and personal performances from the acclaimed Canterlot orchestra were incredible, it was getting distracting. Nothing he brought up could break his herdmate's stride though. Fluttershy was still only around in fits and starts, but Luna assured him that Discord would take care of the pegasus, and a mention that Pinkie should find a job, so that the mare could return to her casual life style of parties, brought about sudden employment from Luna in the royal kitchen.

Sighing again, Pete turned and entered the castle. His return to his room was met with a tackle hug from a poofy ball of pink, that he happily returned. He sat with her cuddled up on his lap in a chair, gently rubbing her mane and back, as he told her what had transpired with Applejack. The party pony looked at him with her deep blue eyes, shimmering with tears in the faint light, but a smile on her face. Their next hug was a somber one, a hug of comfort over a mutual loss. Pinkie didn't cry, but she squeezed Pete tighter and tighter with each passing second. Eventually her grip loosened but still the pink mare clung to Pete, who obliged his new love's need to be held. Something he'd learned over the last week, speaking to Pinkie about their past, was that she bottled things up more than anypony he'd ever met.

Not too long after Pinkie had settled Luna came in, the princess obviously drained. She nodded to her herd members and nearly collapsed on the bed. Pete carried Pinkie over to the bed and sat her down on one side of Luna, then climbed onto the other side. Flanking their princess, the pair hugged and nuzzled her, as if the physical proximity could aid her spiritual fatigue. Luna reached out and gently wrapped her arms around Pinkie, burying her face into the mare's fluffy chest. Pete responded by laying his head against her back, and Pinkie laid her muzzle atop the human princess' head. Some might have found the position awkward, but the group found themselves nodding off in short order.

The next day Pete was standing in the audience chamber, Luna atop the throne in one of her, apparently many, enchanted gowns. The captain had noticed something, and approached Luna during one of the various intermissions between hearings. He climbed the short set of steps to the throne and crouched off to the right, putting himself at ear level with Luna.

“You were right, Pete. This throne is quite uncomfortable for creatures of our size,” Luna said this with a hint of a blush.

Pete chuckled, “Yes, when half your height is lost when you sit down, a chair about half your height is a good idea. … by the way,” his tone shifted to seriousness, “Is it me, or are there a lot of unicorn guards? And I don't mean in Celestia gold, I mean, of the fake royal persuasion.”

Luna examined the room once more. At least half of the guards were wearing the golden armor of the royal guard, but an almost equal number were wearing the sterling silver armor of the “unicorn nation”. The princess casually tapped her fingers on her chin, then leaned closer to Pete.

“Now that you mention it, that is an odd number. Also, where, then, are the pegasus guards? Last I recall, Sunstreak was still inside palace walls as well. Would her guard not want to be privy to the royal conferences?”

“Maybe,” Pete looked around cautiously, “maybe not. I think something is going on, I don't know what, but it is.”

“What should we do?”

The captain paused for a moment, thinking over the options before him. “I think we should cut things short today. Feign exhaustion or something, then we can snoop around.”

“The two most recognizable beings in all of Canterlot, snooping around?” Luna chuckled, “Won't that be rather difficult?”

Pete turned slightly, “I talked with Shimmering Gale once. She's the kind of single minded, obsessed, power hungry combination that I don't feel right leaving you here without me. This might be as simple as her trying to look important, or maybe she wants to try and coerce some kind of decree out of you or Celestia. Either way, I'm not having it.”

Luna turned fully, attracting the attention of the room's occupants. Ever since she had met Pete, since his apartment, and even his arrival in Equestria, he had held her in one obvious position. She was the Princess of Night, a powerful goddess capable of raining destruction unheard of in modern times, and Pete had always treated her as such. If not as a goddess, then at least as a force of nature, yet here there was none of that. He didn't care that she could drop the moon on any fools that dared cross her, or seal them on it as Celestia had done to her. Things had changed. She was now one of his herd, a valued member of his family, and he was trying to keep her safe.

Part of her felt almost disgusted. She was a goddess after all. She'd dealt with far worse than a few measly armored unicorns. The thought then crossed her mind that he was acting this way due to her gender. It was known for humans to be more protective of what they considered the weaker sex. The idea that Pete would act like that quite nearly appalled her. The other part of her lavished the idea. Even a goddess swoons at the thought of a champion to protect her, even if she's far more capable than the hero. A sort of “it's the thought that counts” kind of idea. He wanted her safe, his reasons were his own, and since he hadn't acted like this prior to their herding, she believed that was the cause.

Then Pete, having realized any chance of a charade was over, made an obvious move. Turning so that he was facing Luna, he slowly reached his arm out and placed an open hand on her belly. For a moment the princess was confused, and then it dawned on her. She was still quite vulnerable indeed. No pony would know, which was both a blessing and a curse. If something violent occurred and she wasn't on her guard her unborn would be in danger. A wave of sickening sadness poured through Luna, mixed with a hint of joy. The thought of something happening to her children caused her grief and rage, yet Pete's display of protective instinct towards them made her elated.

Luna removed the crown from her head, taking Pete's hand in her free one, and rose from the ground, bringing her mate with her. She embraced him casually, and somewhat fiercely. His free arm wrapped around her waist, returning the affection, and the pair walked away without a word. There were important matters to attend to, and Luna could HARDLY leave her captain to oversee them himself. At least, that's what she said later when asked by the council about her sudden leave of absence.

The semi-royal couple started trekking across the castle, asking, probing, quietly for information from anyone that could know that wasn't one of the unicorn guards. The guards that the couple began to notice around nearly every corner. After a time Pete began to place tracing spells on them, to make sure they weren't being followed. What he concluded was worse. By his count there were at least 100 unicorn guards in the employ of Shimmering Gale in the castle. That fact alone was enough to convince Luna that the pair needed to seek aid from her sister.

“Hold up,” Pete said as they rounded a corner. Down the hall was yet another set of Shimmering Gale's guards, the set of stallions flanking either side of a doorway. Luna quickly checked her memory of the castle.

“There's nothing of importance in that room,” she whispered, slightly confused.

“Maybe not to us,” Pete responded, letting the idea linger for less than a moment before springing into action. In which he raised his right arm, a shade passing it for a moment as a spell slid off his fingers and reached the guards. The invaders stumbled for a second, confusion washing over them, before they toppled on the spot.

The captain and his princess moved hurriedly towards the door. They were in Celestia's end of the castle, yet no where near her room. Shimmering Gale's room was nearby, the arrogant princess demanding a room closest to that of the main monarch. Pete shook his head as he found the door locked. A gentle, magically enchanted, rap of his knuckles on the lock caused the mechanism to break and grant all entry.

Inside was a room, plain, unassuming. Except for the unicorn mare tied up on the bed. Several possible ideas filled the human's head, each one more catastrophic than the last. Catastrophic at least for those he intended to act his violence out on for his perception of this act anyway. Before Luna had even finished looking around Pete had freed the mare, undoing her ropes and gag. She coughed a few times and the discarded materials alluded to Luna what she had been freed from.

“I tried,” the mare croaked.

“Tried what?” Pete's voice soothing and even toned.

“I'm sorry, darling. I tried to warn Celestia, but this foal wouldn't let me.”

Pete wasted no time hugging the new form of Rarity. He and the fashionista had never been what one would call close, but it was good to hear another friendly voice. Luna did not intrude once again. These reunions could be very bitter sweet, as it had been the night before with Applejack. The unicorn slowly hugged back, eventually letting out a soft sigh of relief, at which point Pete let go.

“What did you try to tell Celestia?” Pete asked, going right back to business, but keeping his tone subdued.

“That wretched mare, Shimmering Gale, has been sneaking guards into the castle under the guise of 'servants' for the past four days. Who ever I am now knew about it, but she refused to speak up. I got fed up with it and went to tell the princess when she blurted the plan out in front of those ruffians. The next thing I know I'm being roped up faster than somepony trying to escape Applejack, and I'm tossed in here.”

Pete gave a weak chuckle, “I'm sure it was 'the worst thing ever,' huh?”

Rarity's expression went flat in her host's body, “There is a time for drama and a time for seriousness, Pete Powell. A proper lady knows when those are. And now is not the time for your jokes.”

“Okay, okay. What's their plan of attack?”

“Well, the coup was planned for today. They were going to force the crown off the head of who ever was on the throne. As I understand it though, Celestia is in her room and has been for days, and Luna is … over there in her new human form and she's the one with the crown. They've been rather simply bested, I think.”

“No,” Luna said, shaking her head, “The guards we saw on our way here, they know where we are. There could be an army marching through the halls right now waiting to intercept us.”

Pete raised an arm, which quickly coated in shadow and became clawed, as he gave Luna a dark smile. “Oh, I hope they're that stupid,” he spat. “There's two crowns though. They could easily be converging on Celestia.”

The Princess of Night paused and thought on that for a moment. “What should we do?” Her concern was palpable.

A minute later the trio were practically parading through the halls, passing a few of the silver armored guards and leaving them slack jawed. Pete had gone full Dread Captain and then some. Applying what was once a simple aura of magic into a physically altering form along his arms, which now both resembled claws. His face was stern as he led the way through the halls, Luna next and the rescued mare in the back. Luna was concerned about the claws, but she trusted Pete not to do something stupid. The group proceeded to the audience chamber and Luna took her place on the throne, her dark crown resting securely on her head.

Pete cracked his knuckles impatiently in the interluding moments. Despite reassurances Luna remained worried. They had left to prevent this exact scenario hours earlier. It felt like the opposite of a good plan to her. Once more, however, she trusted Pete. Their fears and doubts did not need long to manifest. Less than five minutes passed before the large double doors on the far side of the throne were thrust open, allowing in nearly 200 unicorns all dressed in the same silver armor, with a robed mare at the center.

“We've heard of your plan, Shimmering Gale,” Luna boomed, letting some of her own fury eek out.

“Oh, I can see that,” the unicorn replied, shooting a look of venom at the seamstress next to the throne.

“What do you hope to accomplish?” Pete asked, his voice loud, but low and steady. “You stand before Princess Luna, formerly Nightmare Moon, one of the greatest threats in Equestrian history. You think a few hundred soldiers can stop her?”

What followed was the most pathetic attempt at a speech Pete had ever heard. He tuned out as soon as the 'princess' mentioned that unicorns were, hooves down, the “superior race.” It made him sick, and worse was that a majority of it ended up being pretentious ego inflation. Several minutes of her talk about how unicorns should lead over all others was just her going on about how great she, herself, was. It was simply egotistical, foolish, and blatantly stupid. It completely disregarded the simple fact that an alicorn was all three races put together. In Shimmering Gale's fantasy world, that made them weak.

With her manifesto delivered, Shimmering seemed to wait for applause, and Pete gave it to her. Slowly clapping as he walked down the stairs to meet her army on their level. It was an ironic clap, the kind the villain gives the hero at the end of the movie after an impassioned speech.

“Shimmering Gale,” Pete said in a loud voice, “I here by place you and your group under arrest on charges of treason.” The group before him chuckled slightly. “Failure to comply will be met with extreme force. This is your one and only warning to surrender.”

“And you'll defend your princess to the bitter end then?”

Pete cocked his head. “Oh, it's beyond that. I'm a citizen of this land. While I may be sworn under the banner of the moon, I still serve this nation and everything that comes with it. I would be standing here if it were Celestia on that throne too. Because I swore to protect this land, and strive only to make it better. In your vision I see nothing but greed and ignorance, a path of destruction.”

“For the past few thousand years you've all been allowed to act as you pleased, and in ways it has helped and in others it has harmed. I not longer see the unity of this nation that I did once. I see fear mongering from petty powers, propaganda about superiority, and idol worship of beings that would frown upon the actions you've taken. So I'm making a double announcement here. As of right now, I, Captain Pete Powell, am disbanding the false houses of royalty.” Many gasps echoed in the room, including one from Luna. “It was something the alicorn princesses should have done years ago, but they looked the other way. As an officer of the law, I can not do that. Nothing in the Equestrian charter says that you may proclaim yourself royalty without a direct tie to the royal house. I've checked, none of you do. Not you, not Mud Hole, not Sunstreak. You're all technically traitors to the crown.”

“I'm willing to look the other way though, provided that these fictitious titles are abandoned. From there, appropriate actions will be taken to deal with whatever unlawful wealth has been accumulated, including property, etcetera.”

Shimmering Gale laughed, then ordered her soldiers to deal with the captain. It was short. Pete waved a single clawed hand and a gust of wind with the strength of a hurricane pushed from him. A few managed to stay standing, but those closest to him were blown backwards, and a few right out into the hall. Shimmering Gale herself looked up, having been smart enough to shield herself, just in time for a shroud of pure darkness to extinguish the light.

From Luna and Rarity's perspective it seemed as though a black fog had covered several feet off the ground, obscuring any pony that might be below them, and stretching as far back as the doors. A couple of minutes later the darkness faded, as Pete emerged from it. The Dread Captain brushed his shirt off of nonexistent dust, his hands once more normal, as the floor slowly uncovered behind him. In its wake were the bodies of the gathered opposing force, many groaning, more unconscious, and Shimmering Gale in the center of it.

“Pete,” Luna gaped at the sight.

“I told them, extreme force.” He shrugged, “None of them are seriously hurt, half of what I did was scare tactics, the actual 'damage' if you want to call it that was magically inflicted. It's also amazing the kinds of things a unicorn will fire off when they're trapped in the dark. More of them fell to friendly fire than my own.”

He paused for a moment when he reached the top of the dais, reading Luna's expression. “Equestria is a fantastic place. It's home to me, and I will do whatever it takes to defend it. I may not like what I do,” his face turned from Luna's gaze and hardened, “but I'll do it.” He then turned back, bent down slowly, and hugged Luna. “Especially if it threatens my family,” he whispered to her.

Before long the real guard was in and hauling unconscious traitors to either the dungeon or the medical ward. Luna stepped off with Rarity to complete that ritual once more, and Pete feared what Luna would be like that night. Of course, with fighting occurring inside the castle itself, it wasn't long before Celestia made an appearance. The alabaster alicorn pushing her way through a few of her own guards to the human watching from the dais steps. She looked Pete up and down with a look of anger on her face. Pete responded with a bland expression. As far as he was concerned, Celestia hated him now, and he could no longer care.

“Calling families that have long stood with the royal house traitors, fighting inside the throne room, disbanding the royalty that has stood for thousands of years now, essentially destabilizing a governmental system that has been in place as far as many can remember, am I missing anything?”

Pete negligently tossed his medal at the Princess and shrugged. “I dunno. I can't say I care. I did what I had to, that's all. No one is dead, a threat to the crown was put to rest, and a stupid continental division is over.”

Celestia sighed deeply, “What am I supposed to do with you?!”

“I honestly don't know. … I'm not proud of myself, Celestia. I didn't want this but when there's an army sitting inside the castle I don't have much choice.”

The Princess recoiled, her eyes wide. “You could have talked to me! You could have gathered the guard to back you up! Something else, anything!”

“WHY?!” Pete stood up, putting himself eye level with the alicorn. “Why risk getting others hurt when I was more than capable. No one on our side was hurt, and even few of the rebels were injured. You couldn't imagine a better victory than this.”

“You far overstepped your bounds as a captain.”

“No, you failed in your duties as a princess. The laws are clear, and my research was sound. These 'princesses' have no legal claim to the throne, and are, according to the laws that YOU set up, criminals.”

Celestia reached for a retort, but found nothing. She had known that she was skating thin ice when she allowed the political charade to continue. What burned her was that she had no say in the dismantlement of it all. The Princess of the Sun, hailed as the most powerful being in Equestria, suddenly felt powerless next to this one, mortal creature. Pete had always had that power in his later years, and it slowly dawned on the princess that what irked her was that he had returned. She was still stuck on that one thing. No matter what she did, he had a loophole, even in death.

She let out a defeated sigh and sat down. It was almost too much to take in. Celestia still remembered times when she and Pete were close, friends even. A monarch with absolute power had few of those, it was why she pushed all her students to find friendship. Guilt settled into the pit of her stomach, and her face simply deflated before Pete. When she opened her eyes, they were regretful. Pete looked at Celestia for a while, making sure she was serious, then placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It's hard,” he said softly, “I know it is. He's gone, and you don't know why he didn't come back.”

“What do you-”

“I know a lot,” Pete said, “I know about Star Swirl, your relationship, everything.” Pete pulled the small book he'd been carrying around out of his pocket and shown it to Celestia. It was Star Swirl's diary. The original. Celestia gasped, having long thought it lost. “Twilight had a very keen hiding spot in the library. She stashed a lot of rare books back there, and this was among them. She never got to read it, probably thought it was just another official copy, since they were basically cloned on the same red binding with his name on the front.”

Celestia grasped the ancient book with her magic and opened to a random page. It was her second date with Star Swirl. Celestia had insisted on disguising herself and the entire entry was the stallion berating himself for calling her Celestia, rather than her pseudonym, at least a dozen times. The princess bit her lower lip and chuckled weakly. Another random page, filled with the ramblings of a confused stallion as the estrus season came upon the nation. Ideas filtered through his mind on what that could possibly mean for an immortal goddess, but more often than not it was panicked worry over if he could provide properly in a sexual situation.

By this point Celestia was crying. Pete stepped forward and hugged the pony monarch. Celestia did not sob, she didn't make a noise, she cried silently into the human's shoulder for several minutes while a stern faced Pete kept any of the guards from thinking about glancing over. The storm passed and Celestia whispered her thanks to Pete.

“I know it's rough, but you'll pull through. Moving on does not mean forgetting.”

Pete escorted the emotionally drained Celestia back to her room, then made his way to the rooms of the pony bodies. He needed to check up on Rarity. Stepping into the room, he found the fashionista being informed of what had transpired, how she had gotten to where she was, and what could be done.

“I appreciate it, really, but I think my time has passed,” she said, sadly.

“It doesn't have to,” Pete said, closing the door behind him.

“For you, dear, maybe, but for me? I know nothing of the fashion in the future, and even though it sounds like most of the girls will be back, I'm afraid I would miss those that chose to stay gone too much. Besides, what possible reason could I have to stick around?” She gave a faint smile from her host form.

Pete's stomach churned, he had a reason, it was a low blow though. She deserved to know. “Rarity, Spike is still alive.”

Her breath caught in the back of her throat and a tear welled up. “Spikey is... … Oh, that is cruel, Pete Powell.”

Spike and Rarity had become a couple sometime during the dragon's teenaged years and they had lasted the whole of Rarity's life, according to the mare herself while they waited on Twilight at the gate of reincarnation. Luna had recently told Pete that the dragon had fled to a high mountain after the day of Rarity's death, and returned only once a month to speak with Celestia. He made no attempts to gather riches, citing that his most precious had already been taken from him. Pete told Rarity this and the proper pony lost herself in a fit of tears.

Luna shot Pete a look between confusion and disgust. She didn't agree with what he had done, but it was the same thing he was doing. Applejack's herd all had timely deaths, as did Twilight's. Fluttershy and Discord hadn't been an item, but the human had spoken to the draconequus many times, his feelings had been clear. Same with Spike and Rarity. Spike lived on, alone, he could reunite them, as he was doing with himself and Dash. Like he had accidentally done for Pinkie. The way he saw it, he was extending the happy times for the beings that lived well beyond normal years. They deserved it in his eyes.

“I'll do it,” Rarity said, wiping a final tear from her eye.

Luna sighed slightly and nodded, rushing Pete from the room and beginning to instruct Rarity on what to do.

With that out of the way, Pete made his own weary way back to his quarters. Pinkie was, as usual, already there. As soon as he stepped in the party pony pounced on him and hugged him tight, spewing forth whatever story had been going around about what happened only an hour ago in the throne room. He carried her over to the bed and laid down, her hooves still wrapped around him, and began to calm the excitable mare. Pete told her about what had happened, his suspicion, the discovery of the threat, finding Rarity inside the body of the seamstress that had helped Pinkie find him during the gala, and the fight in the audience chamber. With everything said the mare seemed to calm down and the pair waited for Luna to return.

The wait was a few hours in length, and it was noticeable in Luna when she entered. She seemed half dead, only giving a few short sentences before curling up on the bed and dozing. The other two followed suit, though it was still early in the day. Tensions had ran high, Pinkie with worry, Pete with a variety of emotions, and Luna with pure exhaustion. Before falling asleep, Pete raised an arm and cast a barrier on the door. He wanted not potential interruptions for this rest that his herd needed.

In the back of his mind his excitement built. With Rarity now found and returning to life there was only one. Rainbow Dash. The worry and excitement swelled and mixed together as he anticipated her return. It couldn't be long now. It had taken him no time at all to find the others. She was probably right around the corner, slowly stirring. She always did like to take her time getting up.

A Princess' Plea

Thanks to Pete's sealing spell the group slept well into the middle of the next day, causing both ladies to be shocked. Pinkie was normally up fairly early, and was still the first one awake that day, finding it was nearly noon. Luna came next about an hour later, and Pete moments after. He released the spell on the door that had kept others from disturbing their much needed rest and they proceeded like any other day. Pete showered quickly, as the ladies liked to take more time with their hygiene, and waited with Pinkie while Luna cleaned up. He had found just cuddling with the pink mare some how calmed his nerves, an odd effect considering how hyper she normally acted.

When Luna exited the bathroom, fully cleaned and in a new dress, she and Pete exited the captain's room and made for the throne room. They were more than a little shocked to find that Celestia was on the throne, her horn glowing and a dozen quills moving at once on different pages. A few of the pompous ponies that had rejected Luna's new human form were sitting around the dais, evidently waiting on the paper work Celestia was working on. Pete had other ideas, however, stepping quickly between the ponies and up to the throne.

As Celestia sat shocked at his unannounced arrival, she lost her magic grip on the pages and the human snatched them out of the air and began reading. Some of the gentry behind him raised loud objections, but he ignored them. After reading all of the proposals he stepped back down and handed less than half back to their proposers. The rest he ripped into shreds and frowned. He then quickly ran down the exact reasons why what they proposed was stupid, namely that most of them insisted on the dismantlement of the three guard forces that had risen in the fictional nations. Without giving them any chance to deflect, argue back, explain, or even speak, he tore into every single argument, then dismissed them.

With the gentry slowly walking away, Pete turned to Celestia. The alicorn sat stone still, her mouth agape. Pete sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair then shook his head. The princess knew better than to get surrounded and brow beaten like that. Incredibly it was Luna that spoke first.

“Sister! What are you doing?” Luna shouted as she approached the dais.

“I've been away too long,” Celestia said, her voice sad, “When you didn't show up this morning I figured it was time to return.”

“That's my fault,” Pete interjected, “With all the stuff that Luna's been doing lately I figured she needed more rest. So I put a seal on the door.”

Celestia smiled, “You really worry about her, don't you?”

“Yeah, I do. I would even if we weren't together. She's doing me a huge favor in the background here, and it almost looks like it's killing her.”

Luna blushed, but her tone stayed chastising. “I'm fine Pete, if this was too much I would let you know.”

“Still,” Celestia said, her voice lowering to a near whisper, “You have been looking faint lately. I suggest taking the day off, sister. Rest. I'm sure it won't be too long and our errant soul here will find the remainder of his friends.”

“And allow you to be surrounded yet again?”

Celestia grinned, “I believe that's why we have the Captain here.”

There wasn't much the couple could say against the idea, Luna was tired, Pete was a captain, and Celestia had a point. So Captain Powell sat through another day of court sessions, listening to several absurd ideas, intermingled with actually good suggestions, and the occasional piece of news. The news was mostly about his impromptu disbanding of the three mini nations that had sprung up.

Celestia had stuck to the Captain's guns on that topic and the word had gotten around. Sunstreak had, allegedly, removed her crown with dignity and put up no harsh words or attempts to remain in power. News came in late that day of Mud Hole's reaction. Apparently, the usually calm earth pony tossed her crown into the distance, hopped out of her carriage, and rolled around in the nearest patch of dirt, with utter disregard to her royal garb. This caused both Pete and Celestia to take a five minute break that consisted of them laughing for several minutes, and breathing for a few before returning to work.

Work itself was nothing major. With the Dread Captain once more by the side of a monarch every proposal was passed by his own eyes as well as a princess' before given consideration. Many of the gentry were upset at this, thinking that with Luna off the throne they no longer needed to deal with the infamous captain. Little were they aware that Celestia had done everything but tell Pete she was over her issues with him. The Princess of the Sun had spent the night before reading Star Swirl's diary cover to cover, and in the process had finally accepted his leaving. She hated that Pete had come back, but the wound, as it were, was now essentially closed.

Once court was over, Celestia dismissing those remaining near sunset and canceling Luna's night court, Pete exited through the large double doors and into the main foray. His first stop would be the kitchen to see how Pinkie's day had been, then to check up on Luna. Half way to the kitchen, however, he bumped into Sunstreak. The white pony was no longer in a gown, and her blond mane was slightly mussy from flight. The two locked eyes and stood for a moment, both unsure of what to say.

Pete had just caused her sudden dethronement after all, and Sunstreak wasn't sure what to say about that. She wasn't resentful, but wouldn't most expect her to be? Shouldn't she? It was a cushy job after all. The former princess realized why it had happened though, it was illegal, she got it. Eventually she just settled for a smile. A simple gesture to say 'no hard feelings.' Pete gave a slight nod and a smile back.

The two went their separate ways, Pete to check on Pinkie, and Sunstreak to her room. The former princess found it slightly off to not have guards around her door, though she admitted they were a nuisance and she was glad to be rid of them. Like Mud Hole, Sunstreak was not really princess material. Only her former teacher's lessons made her successful, and then just barely. It had been difficult to pretend to be regal at all times, but she'd made due. In truth, the princess was more of a tomboy, easily irked and quick to draw lines. It was a side she only shown in private, and only to those she trusted, a total of four ponies in all of Equestria.

Once she was safely locked in her room, Sunstreak let out a long, tired sigh, and half sunk to the floor. The white pegasus slowly walked over to the wall mounted, full body mirror and looked herself over. She'd had practice pretending to be calm and demure, but the stress of her “companion” was making things worse. Ever since the night of the gala she had been holding her back, and more than once Sunstreak had almost slipped. Just in the hallway, caught unaware, had almost been enough. Looking in the mirror she could almost see the mare's reflection on her own face.

“Just what are you doing,” her own voice croaked out, under the control of her unwanted guest.

“I just need time,” Sunstreak muttered, wrestling for control. “I NEED more time!”

“It's not like it kills you! You'll be back on your hooves in no time!”

“That's not the point!” Sunstreak gasped for air, as if her vocal chords were choking her from this duel of voices. “If you come back now … he won't care. You're who he's looking for! If you come back now...”

“What gives,” the voice pleaded, “You hardly even know him!”

“The memories go both ways, Rainbow Dash,” Sunstreak said, smirking, “I can see everything.”

“HEY! That's private!”

The blond pegasus scowled at her own reflection, “And my memories aren't?! You saw me at my lowest point, half dead at the orphanage, and in exchange, I saw you at your peak. I know all about him. His reckless abandon when it comes to his sense of justice, how loyal he is to his friends and lovers, the way he hides his emotions behind that Discord may care smirk. I've seen him at his lowest too, from your point of view, and I've seen him soar. I also know how his birthday in the middle of summer off puts him, so he tells everypony he was born in winter. I know that even though he placed it close to Hearth's Warming Day he was always fine to get a single present for one or the other, but Pinkie always threw him his own party, and never skimped on gifts.” She smiled now, “And I know how she felt, and how you felt about her.”

“Shut up!”

“You didn't mind it, you secretly wanted it. You always felt a little spark of attraction for that fluffy pink mare, but he changed that. Still, if she'd joined up, you wouldn't have complained... much. So why not make room for one more?”

“Why not let me out now, THEN try and herd him?!” Rainbow shouted, though it did no real good, it made her feel better.

“As I said, he's liable to disappear with you all when he finds you. I can't let him do that before I have my chance. I just can't...”

“Why not?”

Sunstreak looked at her reflection, “Because unlike you I relate to how he felt. I've seen his world, the one that he forsook for you. I know what he told you, how he hated it there, felt like an outcast amongst his own kind. … I know how he felt.”

The presence of Rainbow Dash faded from the former princess' mind and she sighed with relief. One more day, that was all she needed. Tonight and tomorrow, all she wanted. She knew she could get him to love her. After all, his wife had reincarnated into her, and he loved her enough to rip apart the afterlife.

Pete had checked on both of his ladies, finding Pinkie practically teaching the cooking staff the correct way to bake sweets, and Luna looking much better after resting for the day. Assured that things were going well, he retired to his usual perch atop the castle's Eastern wall. The wall was always abandoned around sunset, the guards patrolled the wall rather than stood in singular positions. The climb up was short, but Pete was shocked when he arrived. Sitting in his usual spot was a white pegasus, Sunstreak. The former princess turned, noticing the captain's arrival, then gave him a small nod. Curious, Pete stepped forward, taking a spot a foot away from the pegasus.

“Its been a crazy day,” Sunstreak said casually.

“I bet,” Pete replied, just as casually.

The pair stood and watched the sky darken as the sun set behind them, the moon slowly rose in front of them, and the stars glinted into existence. Pete actually liked the Equestrian sunset better than his own. This one happened at roughly the same time every day, and was much more extravagant and noticeable. The shift was completely astounding every time due to how sudden it seemed.

“I've never met anyone like you,” Sunstreak spoke after the long pause of sunset.

“What do you mean?”

“You fought against Celestia, the most powerful being know to Equestria, if not the world, stood alone against a rebellion, saving Princess Luna, and even came back from the dead.”

Pete laughed and clasped his face with his hand, “Of course. Pick the absolute most astounding, stand out-ish things I've done. I thought this was going somewhere else.”

Sunstreak looked up at the human with pleading eyes, “The stories about the Element of Loyalty's husband were almost as many as her own. Us pegasi know much about who he was, strong and kind hearted, but quick to anger, and fierce. Did you know there's actually a sect of pegasi that view you in the same way most of us see Rainbow Dash?”

Pete cocked his eye brow in disbelief. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” Sunstreak nodded, “They're few, no doubt about that, but they believe that the Element of Loyalty's husband, even if records are spotty on his race at best, was a pegasus and was what out warriors should live up to.”

Pete scoffed, “Poor fools they are. I'm not the one they should be focused on in history books.”

“You tried so hard to keep hidden, didn't you?”

“Not really, I just don't think I'm the hero type. An anti hero maybe, but not an out and out 'guy kids should aspire to be' type. I do what I have to in order to keep those I care about safe, nothing more, nothing less. I just so happen to be romantic with ponies that want to keep order and justice floating around.”

“And if they weren't interested in that?”

Pete leaned forward onto the parapet, staring at the full moon in the sky. “I'd probably be considered one of Equestria's greatest monsters.”

“Pete,” a voice very familiar to the human whispered at his side.

“Good evening, Rainbow.” Pete looked to his left at Sunstreak, who sat there eyes and mouth wide

“H-how?” Sunstreak croaked.

“I had a feeling a few days ago, but you didn't do anything strange like the others so I shrugged it off.”

Sunstreak stepped forward, placing her front hooves on the parapet as well, making her head level with Pete and looking him in the eyes. “Please, please, please, I need to talk to you. Please, just a while longer.”

He calmly ran a hand through her mane, “I need her back.”

“I know, I know, but please I just-”

Sunstreak's words were cut off by a dull ache in the back of her head. Pete looked at her, a hint of sadness in his eyes. “No, you don't know,” he said, his spell slowly seeping into the former princess' mind, numbing it and lulling her to sleep.

When the spell had done its job, Pete picked up the slack body of the white pegasus and carried her into the last open room on Luna's side of the castle. He laid her down on the bed, and sent a guard after the Princess of Night. When she arrived, Pete gave her a quick run down of what had happened, and she started her work immediately. Luna was eager to be finished with this task. Once Rainbow was back in her body the ordeal was over. No more pushing her magic to the limits, no more spiritual exhaustion, just peace with her new family.

Inside the sleeping mind of Sunstreak, a dream played out. A dream she'd had since she was a filly, only this time the roles were filled. Before she dreamed of being surrounded by a group of loving silhouettes, early on they were a family. A father, mother, and a sibling or two. Now, however, it was Pete and his herd. They were under a large tree in the middle of a grassy plain, Rainbow Dash was on Pete's lap, her hooves around his neck. His arm was wrapped around Luna's shoulder, Pinkie settled between them, and Sunstreak herself was on the other side of Pete, leaning against him.

Author's Note

Putting this story in the fast lane folks! Expect more of it because we're staring down the barrel of the ending! Next chapter, Rainbow reawakens, and Fluttershy has to make a choice. Will she accept immortality with Discord, or will she chose to once more be mortal with her friends? GET ON BOARD THE HYPE TRAIN!

Final Epilogue

“Sister,” Celestia nodded to Luna as the woman entered the study.

“It's been quite some time,” Luna replied, pulling up a chair.

“I think almost ten years since the last time we talked, or even wrote.”

“I've been quite busy,” Luna said, taking a deep breath. “Even now I find this strangely relaxed.”

“I would say, but surely the children have grown up enough now?” Celestia then chuckled, “Ah, they would actually be teenagers now, wouldn't they? I'm surprised you haven't just sped up their aging by now.”

Luna laughed as well, “That wouldn't do any good. They need more time to develop their powers.”

Celestia's face fell. “So they do have magic then. Like Pete.”

“More so, sister. You forget, they are my children as well.”

Celestia sighed. “This could be a nightmare. Now that I think of it, how will you perpetuate the species? Surely incest isn't ...”

Luna smiled and stood up. Celestia moved to stop her, but the Princess of Night simply opened the door, letting in two small humans. The first was a boy, very tan and athletic, around ten years old. The thing that struck Celestia dumb was his hair. “Rainbow,” she muttered in shock. The other was a girl, about the same age, giggling and bubbly, with curly brown hair.

“Can you guess who they are?” Luna challened.

“That's not possible,” Celestia muttered looking at the two.

“Oh c'mon!” the boy shouted, “I hear that every other day outta someone.”

The girl only giggled harder, “Lighten up! We are pretty special after all.”

Celestia only looked at Luna. “Did you do this?”

“It was an oversight. When I made Pete's body I accidentally made him … compatible with our world. His magical powers, how enhanced they are, and his ability to have children were, actually, my fault. Well, I won't really say fault, he deserves the same rights as everyone else, but his genetics are different than they were, as are his children's, and ours.”

The boy groaned loudly, “What does that even mean?”

“What she means is that when we get older we can have kids like us even though us and Momma Luna's kids are the only other humans.” The little girl smiled innocently at her half brother.

Celestia looked at the girl, then at Luna, who nodded in agreement. “That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I want to start getting the children involved in the world.”

“That's not my decision to make,” Celestia said.

“I know, but … I want to make town.” Celestia raised an eye brow. “I want a town where humans can live, where ponies that aren't afraid of them can live. Where they can grow back to being part of our world.”

“A colony.”

Luna nodded. “Pete wants it too. We think that right where we are, near Ponyville, would be a good place. Obviously, we need help with this.”

“I'll do whatever I can.”

Luna smiled and handed Celestia an envelope. “It's from Pete. He's been working on a plan for this for the last few years now. He thinks he's got it mostly covered but he wants to be sure, and of course he's asking for your help in there as well.”

“I see,” Celestia said slowly, “And why isn't he here today?”

“Dad's busy cause Mom's pregnant again,” the boy said.

Celestia looked shocked once more. “Again?”

Luna nodded. “Between Pinkie and Rainbow, Pete has four children with a fifth on the way.”

Celestia reeled, aghast at this revelation. “Five humans? … Seven with yours.”

Luna shook her head, “It seems that the odds for human and pony are about fifty fifty. Pinkie has had two human daughters, but Rainbow's second was a filly.”

“That's ...”

“I like Momma Dashie's filly! She smells SO much better than my sister, and she can FLY!” the curly brown haired girl laughed, her voice and laugh so much like her mother's that Celestia would swear the pink pony was in the room.

“You can't blame him,” Luna said quietly, “A large portion of our time is spent 'together' you know.”

Celestia raised a hoof, “No, no, please. Stop. I understand quite well. I'll look over Pete's proposal and get to work on what I can.”

Luna nodded and said her good byes, taking the children with her. When Rainbow had come up pregnant the Princess was amazed, when it came out a human boy she was astonished. Now she was rebuilding her race, giving them a home, and this time they wouldn't be shunned. They had magic, they were a part of the world in a way that they weren't before. Luna had wanted this for a long time, thousands and thousands of years. Now it was in reach. With Celestia helping them, with Luna herself watching over the humans, she was sure they would flourish. The world would be complete again, ponies, dragons, zebras, griffons, and humans. All together, the balance restored.

And it was. Over the next several years the humans were reintroduced to society. A small town was built around Pete and his herd's house, and ponies moved in. Few were even afraid of the humans, and the foals that came with the inevitable influx were more curious about the new creatures than afraid. The settlement grew and grew, as did the inhabitants. Before long the humans were having children of their own, and eventually they spread out. There were a few that opposed them, but there was a clear support for them from the government. Equestria became known as home to both humans and ponies, something that Pete was proud to see happen.

To the rescue?

The Princess Celestia sat down next to the deep blue unicorn in the last few hours of dusk. This particular parapet, facing the west, had been his favorite since he mastered the ability of teleportation nearly a month ago. It had initially dumbfounded those around him that he always seemed to disappear around the same time every evening, and it had actually been an enraged Rainbow Dash that found his secret place. Now, however, it served more as another informal meeting place for the former human and co-monarch of Equestria, much as his own rooftop had.

“And how are you this evening?”

“Same as any other day.”

“You don't sound like it. In fact, I've noticed you sounding rather upset these last few days.”

“Lies.”

“Well, not when you're around the others, but here? Yes, I can hear it in your voice here. Something is bothering you.”

“It's nothing.”

Celestia pouted, “You know, this 'blind sage' thing doesn't work since you're not blind any more.”

“I was never a 'blind sage.'”

“Then stop answering in single sentences, and actually converse.”

Pony Pete sighed, “What do you want from me?”

“I want to know what is bothering you.”

“It's nothing.”

“So it doesn't have anything to do with the book you read last week?” Celestia asked with a raised brow, “The one about the differences between the pony races?”

There was a long pause, than another long sigh, “Probably not for the reasons you think.”

“So it has nothing to do with your new longevity of close to 600 years and Rainbow Dash's 250?”

“...Luna is the one teaching me all this magic, right?”

Celestia nodded, “Yes, it's rather unconventional but we believe-.”

“You wouldn't let her do that for long if you didn't think I was some how special, like Twilight. So I'm, effectively, Luna's personal student in the way Twilight is yours.”

“Where are you going with this Pete?”

“...History has shown that every student under you twos tutelage has lived well beyond normal unicorn years. Well into their THOUSANDS.”

“And this worries you.”

“Sort of, I'm more concerned about how being alive for a thousand years is going to effect my sanity. Though, I'm already thinking on a plan to circumvent other major issues. Honestly, I'm glad becoming a unicorn comes with a unicorn brain. I thought that learning magic would be really hard, but somehow it's a lot easier than I expected, almost second nature now.”

“So your studies are going well?”

“Yeah, I think. You'd have to ask Luna if I'm fairing any better than the average unicorn, because I don't really have a frame of reference, but I'd think that having been a human only two months ago, I'm doing really well.”

“I see, and what is this 'plan' you're working on?”

Pete shot Celestia a grin, “Trying to trip me up? Well, no need, I'm fairly open with my plan. ...I've decided to try and find a way to put everypony on equal footing in the aging department. Some sort of spell, or enchanted item that can slow the aging process of any pony down so the three races live the same amount of time.”

“Pete, tampering with death is no small matter,” the alabaster alicorn warned, her voice hard.

“I'm not though, I'm simply trying to extend life. Unicorn magic is what gives us our long life, it's also why we heal faster. Think not only of how things will be when herds don't have to worry about their herdmates dying hundreds of years before them because they're of a different species, but of how much safer everything will be when everypony has latent healing magic coursing through them! It will take a lot of work, I know that, but once I get started it shouldn't be too hard to figure out how to transfer some of that longevity, or even create it in limited quantities.”

Celestia let out a deep sigh, “You're not going to give up on this idea, are you?”

“Not even for a minute.”

Suddenly, there was a massive flash of light that faded into the form of Luna. The Princess of night had just finished lowering the sun, and the stars were beginning to appear when urgent news had been brought to her attention.

“Pete, sister,” she greeted each of them with a nod, “We have a problem,” the lunar princess said, fear and anger in her eyes.

“What's up?”

“Ponyville has been attacked by Changelings. The Elements of Harmony are on their way into the Changeling kingdom to stop whatever it is Chrysalis is planing, but-”

“Shit,” Pete spat, his eyes widening, “They're going to need some help.”

“Pete,” Celestia said, stopping the former human in his tracks, “What do you know about this?”

“Gods, I wish I remembered the extended series better. I knew this would happen, but obviously I have no idea WHEN these things will happen. The show has basically given me a functional knowledge of the future, and this was something that happened, but I CAN'T REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT.”

“Don't push yourself, you're still getting used to using magic,” Luna warned.

“Don't worry, I'm not. But if I'm remembering right, Chrysalis has most of Ponyville cocooned up. I can't just sit here and let that happen. Canterlot has all these guards, what does Ponyville have? One new guy if Dash was telling the truth, and he's probably plastered to a wall right now. I know things turned out well in the comics, but we've already established that things don't work to a T like that here. Something could go horribly wrong, something I could prevent.”

“You have no way of knowing that,” Celestia responded, “for all you know you're just putting yourself in needless danger.”

Pete turned back and smiled, his amber eyes almost glowing in the moonlight, “Relax, I'll make sure everything works out in the end.” And with a flash, he was gone.

“I think we can trust him, Tia.”

Celestia looked at her sister, “Of course you do, you're the one that's been training him.”

“Well,” the younger alicorn thought, “Doesn't favoritism apply to your thoughts about your own student?”

“Twilight has proven herself many times before.”

“And Pete has proven himself at least twice back in his own world. We should give him these chances, especially since he's soon to take his role as my own Captain.”

“You're still serious about that.”

“Of course sister, my guard has long been without one now. I think I'll make it official when he comes back.”

“Has he even been through basic training?” Celestia asked, facehoofing.

“Of course he has, and his time spent with Rainbow Dash was quite apparent. He did better than most of the recruits in the physical portions, and he was easily the best at them of all the unicorns.”

“Really? Why didn't you tell me?”

“Pete insisted, he said he didn't want to become a Captain until he understood our society better. I'm not sure what is keeping him now, though.”

Celestia smiled knowing that Pete had most likely begun his research into extending life, and would like nothing better than to freeload off the Canterlot library for as long as possible.

“I think you're right Luna,” Celestia began, a wicked grin on her face, “when Pete comes back we shall make him a Captain. It would only be fitting considering the selflessness he's displaying by charging head first into a dangerous situation for the sake of others.”

Celestia began a slow trot back down to her room, leaving a confused and stunned Luna on the parapet.

The First Return

One Week Later

Pete watched Celestia, her mane not flowing with magic, crown and shoes removed, as she read a story to a young alicorn in the library. As the tale drew to a close the small alicorn, Pete judged to be around twelve, clapped her hooves quietly with a smile on her face. She then noticed Pete and slowly stopped. After a moment of staring she put her hooves on her head, causing Celestia to turn around. Upon seeing the human and identifying him as the source of the filly's irritation, she shot him a scowl to warn him away. She was too late, however.

“D-do I know you?” The tiny alicorn asked, her voice shaking. Celestia's expression turned to one of horror.

“No,” Pete replied softly, stepping forward slowly. “Why would a nice filly like you know a big, scary guard like me?” The alicorn shrugged. “Exactly. I'll tell you what, why don't you go find another book for Celestia to read to you while I talk to her about some boring castle stuff?”

For a moment she looked wary, but then nodded and trotted off, leaving Pete alone with the Princess of the Sun.

“I thought there was something intrinsic about souls that prevented us from becoming something we aren't,” Pete said pulling up a chair next to the vacationing princess.

“There is.”

“Then why was I, a former unicorn, was a pegasus, and Twilight now an alicorn?”

Celestia didn't look at the human, but she didn't need to. He felt her tense up from two solid feet away.

“...how?” she breathed after several moments.

“Little things, I'm noticing that it all boils down to little things. That filly is Twilight Sparkle, I know it.” He looked at the large alicorn beside him, “And I know you know it too.”

“...there are ways to slightly alter the soul, but only during the reincarnation process. Normally I don't do it, but there are times when exceptions are made. I try to make everypony happy with themselves. So if somepony isn't happy with being a unicorn, I make them a pegasus, or if somepony does something incredible in their life-”

“You make them an alicorn,” Pete finished, new understanding dawning on him, “So there wasn't a way to make Twilight an alicorn at the time of completing Star Swirl's spell, but there was ultimately a way.”

“I might not have even done it if you hadn't mentioned it.”

Pete looked over at the mighty ruler of Equestria. At this moment she seemed far from mighty, her mane flat and unstyled, with bags underneath eyes that had clearly been full of tears recently. Celestia hadn't neglected basic hygiene, but she had forgone the more elaborate parts of ones looks.

“Was that all?” Her voice was distant, as though Celestia wasn't even part of the conversation any more.

“Yeah,” Pete responded, “that and I just want to tell you... I'm not going to wake her up.”

Celestia shot him a look of surprise, “What?”

“It took a lot of thinking to decide this, but I think it's for the best. Twilight would be much more inquisitive about this than me, and probably wouldn't stop until she had completely unraveled everything about reincarnation. Contrary to your belief, I don't want to destroy the institution, just exploit it for a moment.”

Celestia drew breath for a retort, but bit her tongue as the light pink alicorn came back with a book held in her magical grip. Pete gave a short bow and excused himself, leaving the small filly with many questions that her 'Auntie' refused to answer.

With that trip out of the Pete made his way to the ballroom to oversee the decorations for the party next week. He had found out that the old Grand Galloping Gala had been replaced with a much more serious party wherein all the princesses of Equestria would gather and schmooze. They had only been preparing for two days and already Pete had to get several low hanging banners moved from doors, tables pulled away from entrances, and reposition the band. Obviously no pony had ever heard of a fire escape, or perhaps even that fire itself existed. At least their party decorations seemed to push that idea quite heavily. It was times like this that he missed Pinkie Pie, she knew how to throw a party that was at least moderately safe.

Wrapping up that little adventure Pete departed the castle and went to the same bar that Night Breeze had once frequented. The young stallion was still on bed rest, but was recovering well. Sitting at a table far from the door Pete flagged down the bar tender for a cup and sighed. Moments later his drink was brought over by a familiar face.

“Excuse me,” he called to the waiter that had just set down his drink and, essentially, tried to flee, “What's your name?” The stallion stood stark still, as though frozen. The bar was mostly empty, however, and with no rush for the waiter to get back to work, the owner kept out of it.

“L-low T-tide,” the light blue pony spluttered. He turned around and slowly walked back over to the human, terror in his large, golden eyes. “Please don't talk to me,” he whispered, on the verge of tears.

Pete leaned closer, “Why?” Low Tide didn't respond. Pete waited a full minute before speaking again. “Why not, … Fluttershy?”

The pony tensed up, his eyes shrinking to pinpoints. He whimpered for a moment, then squeaked. It was obvious to Pete that the guy was having a nice mental war between himself and the mare he once was, only briefly wondering if the same happened to Night Breeze. Eventually he slammed his face onto the top of Pete's table and sobbed once. Shocked at the sudden outburst, Pete reached across the table to try and console him.

“DON'T TOUCH ME!” The Egyptian blue stallion shouted, pulling back from the human's touch. “I already have enough issues with who I am without having a-a girl inside my head!”

Pete cocked an eyebrow, “Issues?”

“... You have no idea,” he whispered, “what it's like to be me. To feel so out of place in your own skin-”

“Wondering, 'is this even me? Who am I really? Are these my thoughts any more?'” Pete interjected with his own experiences, surprising the stallion. It was true that he hadn't gone through the EXACT same things but after arriving in Equestria, in pony form, a part of him wondered how much of what he did for a time was him, and how much may have been his new body.

“You still don't-”

“No,” Pete said, leaning closer to the blue pony, “But I might be able to help.”

“...how?” Low Tide's eyes were large with both fear and desperation.

“This girl voice, she's not supposed to be in there. I know for a fact that Luna can get her out.” Pete's voice was low and serious, his gaze steady, taking in every single detail of the stallion's reaction.

Low Tide thought about it. He had always felt slightly awkward, but had been able to cope with it right up until this sad mare's voice appeared in his head one day. He knew it had something to do with the human he now sat across from, so it made sense to trust him with the erasure of this voice. Even now the mare calling herself Fluttershy was silently begging for Low Tide to listen and follow the human. This gave him rise for concern however. In the last week he had discovered how passive aggressive Fluttershy was, often pretending to be incredibly weak about a situation in order to cause her host to act another way. It frustrated Tide further that he couldn't even trust this voice, but both the voice and the human were saying he could be freed.

“I-I can't just leave work though,” he countered lamely. He was frightened, not just by the alien creature across from him but also at the thought of meeting a princess. Not to mention what he might have to go through to get Fluttershy out of his mind. Still...

Giving his infamous smirk, Pete downed his cup in a single move, stood up and approached the barkeep. Low Tide stood back, afraid of what his boss might say and how he would act. The owner of the bar tried to give Pete gruff but the human was used to, and ready, for that. A lingering showing of his medallion and a very indiscreet name drop of Luna had the pony practically shaking, and more than willing to let his employee go for however long he was required. With pay of course. Having settled that Pete gave a small wave of his hand to the shy stallion and made his way out of the bar.

The trip to the castle was made in silence with Pete only cocking his head every few minutes to make sure his new friend hadn't ran off. It was Low Tide's first time entering the castle, despite having lived in Canterlot his whole life. While most may have thought that the high ceilings and large columns were impressive, he felt oppressed. Something about it all made him feel even smaller than he already felt, a difficult task since he was almost a half a foot shorter than the average earth pony. Worse was that at the end of the crimson carpet, that suddenly reminded him of blood, was Princess Luna. While he didn't hold any grudge against her for actions taken almost 5000 years ago she still seemed like the more terrifying of the two rulers. As the pair entered the audience chamber his fear peaked, and all the stallion could do was shake in terror several feet behind Pete.

“Captain,” Luna nodded, “Who is that behind you?”

“This is Low Tide,” Pete said, stepping aside and directing the Princess' full attention to the cowering pony. “He seems to be suffering from a similar affliction as Night Breeze.” Luna caught onto the tone in her captain's voice instantly.

“I see,” she mumbled. “Escort him to the infirmary and I'll be along shortly to remedy the problem.”

Pete gave a short, almost theatrical, bow and then motioned for the blue pony to follow him again. The trip to the infirmary was short, but unlike the longer trip to the castle Low Tide was much more talkative. With his emotions running rampant he required information, especially with this talk of 'afflictions.'

“It's not actually an affliction, per se,” Pete assured him. “Truthfully, what you have stuck inside you're head is the soul of one of my old friends.” The disbelief was palpable. “You don't believe me, and maybe it's better that way. Just believe that you're in perfectly capable hooves. You'll need a couple days of rest when we're done, but afterward you won't hear her voice inside your head any more.”

“...so I'm not crazy?”

“No, not by half. Though that seems to be the popular thought about this situation.”

He led the blue stallion into the Canterlot castle infirmary, which smelled very little like a typical hospital, and set him up with a bed one might find more suitable for a hotel. The nervousness about Low Tide was apparent in his every move, however years of magical training had given Pete many useful techniques. Among them right now was a slow acting sleep spell, concealed from even the most powerful unicorns, Celestia and Luna possibly excluded. He wasn't on the bed, still asking questions, for more than five minutes when sleep overtook him. Shortly after Luna arrived, and after giving Low Tide a short once over, dismissed her captain.

Two Days Later

Pete scowled as he sat in the low to the ground, made for ponies throne. Luna had holed up in the infirmary for two days now, and it had taken a full hour before the gentry realized that with both princesses indisposed somepony needed to make decisions. It took less than ten minutes of clerical work for who should have taken the throne, a long descendant of Prince Blueblood, to discover a file signed by Luna herself declaring that her captain was to make any important decisions during any absence she may have. Many of the ambassadors and supporters of the other, nonalicorn, princesses argued against it for a full half an hour until another document arose, bearing similar wording, and a different signature. Celestia had, though Pete had a suspicion that it was a very recent document, also made up a document that if she were absent he was to temporarily take the throne. Going so far as to name him specifically, as opposed to making it general like Luna's 'the Captain of my guard' phrase.

Since then he had been forced to attend court like the princesses had. On the throne listening to every single complaint that filed through the door. His biggest surprise by far had been that complaints were almost at an all time high, despite the one sitting on the throne being considered by most to be a monster of the highest caliber. Getting his morning scowl out of the way, Pete nodded to the guard on his left, who signaled the guards by the door to let in the first complaint of the day, while the unwilling regent slipped on his bored expression.

Calling a break for lunch nearly six hours later, Pete stood up and shuffled out of the audience chamber via side door. It was a shock to many of the ponies that he still held is incredible charisma, doing as he had previously and often getting the minor incidents swept under the rug, or turned into sane proposals that could benefit the government. His biggest, and most obvious, pain however was still the reformed gala that was fast approaching. Trying to balance listening to the complaints of the economically ignorant upper classes and making sure that the decorator of the ball didn't shove another ice sculpture in front of one of the emergency exits was more difficult that he originally thought. First he tried simply squeezing it into the schedule, that failed miserably though as he ended having to sit up past midnight to get in all the planned complaints. Today he decided to eat a simple sandwich while walking around the ballroom and inspecting things. The crew had started to learn how to work around the large ape in their midst, and many had stopped arguing when he shouted at them to change something.

That particularly obnoxious 'royal' duty dealt with, Pete made his way back to the audience chamber. Upon entering he was met with a foundation shaking surprise. On the throne was Luna, listening to a complaint. Moving silently on the inward side of the columns that were in the room, keeping out of sight, Pete made his way to the front of the room and waited. Once the noble had finished his complaint, that his neighbor's roofing was hurting his eyes in the noon sunlight, Pete emerged from the pillar and raised a brow at Luna.

“There you are,” she said, smiling, “I was wondering where you'd gone.”

“Lunch.” Pete replied, jerking his thumb towards the door.

“Yes, that's what they told me. Then you weren't in the dining hall.”

“Someone has to keep an eye on those party planers in the ball room.” He shrugged, and stepped forward. “So how did everything go,” his voice was low, wary of the nearby guards.

“That's something I wanted to talk to you about,” Luna's voice followed suit, “The reason it took so long is that, well... I've went ahead and prepared the other vessels.” Pete blinked and recoiled. “Fluttershy is currently working her way into hers, it'll take a couple more days, and when you find the others all I have to do is set them inside and let them awaken.”

Pete thought about it. “...we won't need one for Twilight,” he said softly. Luna looked unsure for a moment, but then nodded.

“I'll take care of that then. Any reason why?”

“I found her, she's that alicorn filly that's been hanging around Celestia for the past week. I decided that it wouldn't be fair to Celestia to take her away like that... And also that she might be a little bit more curious about this whole thing than I am, and end up aggravating the situation more than I want to.”

The princess considered this for a moment, her eyes looking skyward in contemplation. “I suppose you're right,” she said, looking back down, “Her curiosity towards phenomena like this was one of her best known traits, and I'm sure she wouldn't stop until she found out all she could. ...Likely that would include provoking my sister with some kind of interrogation.”

Pete nodded, the lunar princess agreeing with his unvoiced assessment. “That's more than I want to put Celestia through at the moment. Possibly even at any moment.” The captain shifted his weight, “By the way, how are we going to keep folks out of the sick room? I mean, where else are they supposed to go if they're injured?”

“Why would we keep them out?”

“Are the bodies somewhere else?”

Luna rolled her eyes, “Of course. I wouldn't just leave them laying around, and Fluttershy isn't in the infirmary either.”

Pete approached the fourth door on the left side of the Noctis wing of the castle. Luna had set the other's up in similar rooms in the same wing, the only wing of the castle that was frequently disused. So his surprise was palpable when he opened the door and found more than one pony in the room. Fluttershy lay on the bed, asleep for all intents and purposes. She appeared to be a couple years older than when they had first met in his apartment, but otherwise just as he remembered. Sitting next to the bed, however, was Celestia. Her eyes staring intently at the prone pony. Pete slowly closed the door behind him, making just enough noise to announce his presence.

“Celestia,” he said quietly, after several moments of silence passed.

“I was curious,” she replied, just as quiet. “I didn't think you would find one so quickly, and yet it seems you'd found two.”

“I think it's time we settled this.” Pete stepped close to the alicorn princess and gently turned her face to his with his hand, locking her eyes with his. “I need to know, who's side you're on here. I can't keep stepping on eggshells around you, and watching my back thinking you might try and kill me again. I have to know, are you really so intent on stopping me, or will you at least stay out of this.”

Celestia studied the human's eyes. Even in the thousands of years he'd been absent she still remembered how much change their had been in those. She remembered the first day, even the first hour, she'd known him. Even having a basic knowledge of them from a television show, even knowing that the odds they would harm him were slim, he was afraid. He was terrified, to an extent, for their entire first week of living with him, and even beyond that he was always afraid of her. Even when he was joking around, even when she was teaching him there was a glimmer in his eye, a spark of fear. A spark that Celestia had seen in a million eyes before.

Now his eyes were hard and unafraid. He had gone so far as to physically turn her head. No creature but Discord and her own sister had so much as touched her in over 2,000 years. Even when he was a pony Pete held that level of fear, but now that he had stood toe to hoof with the princess he was confident, cocky even. Celestia thought on just when this change had truly occurred, when had he gone from a fearful coward to confidant man he was now? She suddenly realized exactly when, though she had not been there. He had made the change when Rainbow Dash had become dependent on him for survival, when the life of someone he cared about weighed fully upon his actions. Such a hard reality was required for him to learn that.

“I won't get in the way.” Celestia practically whispered the words. She had known for a while now that she would stay out of it, after her outburst in the throne room it was the least she could allow. She felt foolish for her actions, for letting her emotions get the better of her. She was an immortal being, loss had always been part of her life. Having one that was lost return however changed everything. Now that one had brought back another, and would soon find more.

As the pair stood, their eyes still locked but expressions softening, the door was thrown open violently. Celestia's eyes widened as Pete turned around to face Discord, the draconequus god of chaos.

“I came back because I heard rumors,” he said, floating into the room, his eyes locked on Pete. “I'd heard that the infamous captain Powell had returned from the grave. I was skeptical at first, but now...”

It seemed as though his trailing would lead to something, until he laid eyes on the pink maned pegasus. For a moment he stopped, completely. Drew not a breath, did not blink, nor twitch. Finally he breathed, deep, and looked back at the pair.

“If this is a prank,” he growled darkly.

“No,” Pete said, raising a hand to cut the god off, “This is not a prank. She's back.”

Discord looked back to the sleeping mare. This time he floated close to her and seemed to listen to to one part in particular, but rather her entire being. Slowly his face softened, turning into a faint smile. Being a god himself he was well aware of when a soul inhabited a body, and Fluttershy indeed had one. Her death had been the one to shake him, she had been, whether he wanted to admit it or not, a very close friend.

“She's back,” Discord whispered in awe, “but how?”

“To make a long story short,” Pete said, “I found myself awake in the body of a pegasus, from there Luna put me back into a body, and now I'm looking for most of the other Elements of Harmony.”

“For Rainbow Dash,” the draconequus corrected, almost absently.

“Of course, but the others were my friends too.”

“I debated for a long time over her,” Discord said his attitude in a rare form of seriousness. “It wasn't until after she died that it fully hit me, and I realized what I should have done. I won't make the same mistake twice.”

Celestia raised a brow, “What mistake?”

“Letting her die, of course.”

Pete let out a short laugh, “Can discordian magic over come the natural order of life? If so, I wish you had told me when I was looking for immortality. It might have saved time.”

Discord smiled, a dark smile, “Oh you know all about the Orb of Paradoxis.”

“The orb that allegedly holds the power of the original god of chaos?” He had certainly read the legend a few times. That once there was a god of chaos even more powerful than Discord, and that Discord was in fact his son. The legend said that Paradoxis fell for a mortal, one that refused immortality as Pete had, and that the god sealed his immortality away. The orb, according to legend, could grant anyone that found it eternal life. Whether or not the story was true could only be confirmed by either the princesses, or Discord. Even then, its location was long lost by millions of year of continental drifting.

“I know where it is.”

An unspoken shock washed over the room. Celestia had spent several life times trying to locate the orb, to keep it out of the hands of such creatures as Discord, or worse. To know that it had essentially sat in his paw the entire time was absolutely appalling to the princess.

Pete's shock on the other hand was one of a historian. To have confirmation that the legends of old were true from the source of a legend itself was incredible. His mind swirled with questions, it took all of his composure to not stand mouth agape.

“Would you be willing to wait on that?” Discord gave the human a questioning look. “I want to see it for myself. You can use it however you want, but from a historical stand point I want to view it. The unearthing as it were. Fluttershy will need a few more days to connect to her new body, and a few more days of rest after that. In the mean time, I'm still looking for the other Elements.”

The draconequus stroked his face with a talon. “You're suggesting that I wait for you, and out of it I get...?”

Pete smirked, “I'm the one that brought Fluttershy back.” It was infallible logic. If it hadn't been for him the god of chaos would never have seen her again. In a very roundabout way, Discord did owe him. Of course he thought very hard on ignoring that and doing as he pleased. However with his old reformer next to him, and thousands more years of being good under his belt, the multiparted beast sighed with defeat.

“Fine, I'll take you with me when you're done. But it will be dangerous, and I can't guarantee you'll come back alive.” It wasn't a bluff, but still slightly exaggerated.

Pete smiled, undaunted. “I've come back from the grip of death itself once, surviving won't be too hard.”

“Assuming you survive the soiree on Friday,” Celestia said with a smile.

The captain groaned loudly. His momentary success had distracted him from the much larger challenge, the gala. Without further word he exited the room, Celestia and Discord giggling about the event. Upon reaching the end of the hallway he flared his magic and teleported to the western castle wall. He sat there for the rest of the day, at least 4 hours, staring out at the horizon as the sun made its trek behind him. The city below filled with sounds and color could not reach him atop that wall. It was a place of solitude, almost sacred in what it represented to him. He waited until the sun set in the sky, changing the colors from blue, to orange, red, and finally the dusk settled in and the stars began to appear.

Even knowing the mechanics of it now, and knowing the mare behind it all, Pete still felt wonder at the night sky. The many flickering lights and vastness it brought. He thought about how everything had turned out, and what it all could mean. His existential introversion was broken by a member of the lunar guard. She said that Luna requested his presence, strangely enough, in her room. Well, it wasn't that strange in the sense, but usually it would be early morning, as she was preparing for bed. Not as she should be getting ready for night court.

After knocking on the door Pete opened the door after waiting for the princess to respond. He entered to find her absent from the main room, but the bathroom door closed. Trying desperately to distract himself from what might be going on less than ten feet away, he looked at his reflection in the mirror next to the bed. The last few days had worn on him, heavily, and his face shown it. There were bags under his eyes, and his shirt had a few spots where he had sweat rather profusely. Letting out a deep sigh and rubbing his eyes Pete thought “I just want this day to be over.”

His eyes closed and covered, mouth open in a yawn, he felt something reach around his neck from behind and slip its hands down the collar of his shirt. There was a moment where his body tensed up, then suddenly relaxed as he questioned what else in all of Equestria had hands but him? Pulling his hands away from his eyes and blinking a few times he saw, reflected in the mirror, a woman. Some what younger than himself, a full head shorter, with long blue/black hair and a slender build. She snaked her arms down his chest and laid her head on his back.

“Good evening, Captain,” the voice of Luna sang from her lips.

“Luna what are you doing?”

“I'm going to be rather forward with you. When you … left, you also took a very large part of my heart with you. I sat and watched you for years, watched you go so far as to kill yourself, accepting your decision. Letting you slip away from me like that was more pain than I've felt in centuries. Seeing you come back... Let me just say that I know how much you love Rainbow Dash, I know that right now everything is screaming for you to reject me, but I want you to hear me out.”

She squeezed herself closer to him. “I want one night,” she whispered, “One night of you all to myself. One night to know what it feels like to be with you.” It was all she had to say any more, all she could say. So she waited.

It was not a decision he made lightly. He thought it over for what felt like an hour, though it was closer to two minutes. Luna was right, most of him demanded he reject her. Rainbow Dash was his, the one he loved. Another part of him, however, said that didn't need to be an absolute. Herding was common, the princesses were known to have many lovers at any point in time. And Luna herself had always held a special place in his heart. The outcast, the one he thought might understand him the most. That part of him, that sliver, called out. How much more had she lost now that he knew? That she was the goddess of humans, what had that cost her when they were banished? What would it really cost him to show her the love she deserved for one night?

“Just one night?”

“Yes,” she replied.

Decisions, decisions

This was the one he was waiting for. Pete sat at the bed side of Rainbow Dash, fastest mare in Equestria, former captain of the Wonderbolts, and his wife. He'd tucked a tired Luna into bed with an also tired Pinkie Pie and come right back to Rainbow's room. She was the one he'd been waiting for, and he wasn't going to miss the moment she woke up. When sleep finally came to take him, he crawled into the bed with his wife and held her like he had when they were in the human world. The scene for the next several days was the same. Pete would wake up in the morning and shower at record speeds, take his small breakfast in the room, and continue waiting. All his meals, sleeping, time really, was in that room. He didn't leave if he could help it, and no one bothered him over it.

Occasionally Luna would stop by, about once a day, to see how he was doing and to check on Rainbow's progress. She assured him that several days to a week was normal, and Pete took that in stride. The princess was actually amazed to find a new light in Pete's eyes. The man had every confidence in her opinion, and was overly positive that Rainbow would awaken when she was ready.

“She was never that good with mornings,” Pete chuckled, a smirk on his face. “She'll get up when she's ready, and not a moment before.”

If this was any other situation, Luna might have found his bravado depressing, however, she knew full well that Rainbow was on the road to recovery and instead shared in Pete's good cheer. The man was excited, like a child on Christmas. Food and toilet breaks didn't mean anything when the time would soon come to open a great gift, except this was love, so the feeling was intensified by millions. Pete could hardly wait for Rainbow to be back, to hear her voice, feel the caress of the tip of her wings on his face. Yet he would wait, as long as it took.

Near the end of the week, Discord came to visit. He informed the captain that Fluttershy had finally fully recovered and was at that moment speaking with Pinkie and Luna. Pete congratulated the draconequus, who responded with a magically summoned toast.

“To the return of old loves,” he said, passing the human a glass.

“A rather interesting new lease on life,” Pete said, raising his glass in toast.

Discord tapped his glass to Pete's and the pair downed the liquid. It was sweet, but fiery with alcohol. The human shuddered and Discord laughed.

“That reminds me,” the amalgamated god said, “Spike stopped in a couple days ago.”

Pete raised a brow. “Oh?”

“Yes. It seems that he and Rarity have been talking quite a bit. When she died he was only a touch bigger than a pony, but now he's a mountain.”

“I guess there's going to be something to work out there, huh?”

Discord shrugged, “They'll figure it out. There's something more important though. The Orb of Paradoxis. I said I would wait until you had found them all, and now you have.”

“As soon as Rainbow is up and going we'll go.”

“I figured as much, which is why I'm here. Why not bring them all along?”

“I thought that was the plan,” Pete chuckled.

“Perhaps, but I've had a rather interesting idea. The Orb of Paradoxis is protected by some fairly powerful enchantments... but full grown dragons are nearly immune to magic.”

“You're suggesting Spike fly us over to the orb and save everyone some time and frustration.”

“Exactly!”

Pete sighed deeply, “I'll go talk to him then. Where is he?”

“Aren't you waiting here for Rainbow Dash to wake up?”

“Spike could fly away any time,” Pete said, rubbing the back of his neck, “I need to talk to him before he decides to leave.”

“True,” Discord said, snapping his claw, “He and Rarity are out in the East garden.”

Pete raised a brow, “The big open one?”

Discord smirked, “Why do you think it's so barren?”

Pete smirked and Discord, then snapped his fingers, teleporting to the garden. He landed on his feet with a light thump, and looked around. It was hard to miss the giant purple and green dragon, but Rarity wasn't in obvious view. It took Pete a second to realize that Spike was slightly curled around her, his face pointed down. He hoped the dragon knew how to whisper at that distance and still be audible.

Pete moved toward Spike at a casual pace, the dragon looking up, his slit eyes contracting as he locked onto the approaching figure. Slowly the eyes relaxed, and Spike uncurled himself enough to reveal the white unicorn hidden inside his vast form. Rarity looked at Spike, confused, then at the opening he'd just made. She saw Pete walking towards them and smiled as he came close. The human looked the two over for a minute, then laughed.

“Sex is going to be awkward,” he said smiling.

Rarity blushed and Spike just shook his head. “Please, Pete. Its been thousands of years,” the dragon said, his voice indeed near a whisper, “Are you going to continue that joke?”

“Until you learn how to be about the size of a pony, yes. Last I saw you, you made my current form look a bit small. Now though...?”

“Pete, please,” Rarity said, shaking her head, “We were in the middle of a very important discussion.”

“I had a feeling that was the case, but I had something I needed to ask.”

“And what's that, darling?”

“Actually,” Pete looked up at Spike, “I needed to ask him.”

The dragon raised a giant scaly brow. “Oh?”

Pete gave a short summation of Discord's plan for him and Fluttershy, and the Orb of Paradoxis. “Basically,” he concluded, “there's a lot of magic crap between here and there, and it would help us all if you gave us a ride.”

Spike let out a low chuckle, “And my other option is what? Miss seeing Fluttershy turn into a goddess? If I'd known about this sooner I'd have offered to take you all.”

Pete chuckled as well, “I was only half thinking that being away from ponies had made you more dragon-like, I figured you'd help but it couldn't hurt to play the emotional card.”

Rarity spoke up then, “And I guess by 'us' you mean those of us that have returned?”

“Yeah. Probably the day after Rainbow comes to we'll head off.” Pete paused for a moment. “Speaking of, I should probably get back to her. I'll let you know when she's up so we can start preparing.”

Spike only nodded in response, and Pete snapped his fingers, teleporting to the door to Rainbow Dash's room. He opened the door to find things almost exactly as he left thing, the cyan mare asleep, and Discord floating nearby. He told the chaos god that Spike would take them to the orb, and the draconequus left with a fat smile on his face. This left Pete alone with Rainbow, and his thoughts.

“After all this is over, when you're back … what are we going to do?” He pondered aloud.

It was another two days before Rainbow Dash woke up. First she groaned, alerting Pete, when she started to stretch out, and her breathing picked up pace, he sat forward in his chair. Slowly, she stirred to consciousness, her wings expanding and curling, hooves rotating the air as she popped her extremities. Lastly, she yawned and rolled over, eyes half open and a smile on her lips.

“Hey,” she whispered.

“Hey,” Pete whispered back, half chuckling, and ran a hand down her face. “Been a while.”

Rainbow chuckled, “So I heard.”

“How are you feeling? Everything on right?”

Once more Rainbow chuckled, but this time with a bit of throat in it, and leaned forward. Wrapping her forelegs around Pete's neck she pulled her face close to his and whispered, “Why don't you find out?”

Pete simply smiled and kissed his mare's lips, sliding his own hands around her sides and to her back. He slowly rubbed under her wings and down to her flanks, finally getting a grip on them and picking her out of the bed and onto his lap in the chair. Rainbow giggled into the kiss as she was lifted, and slowly broke it once they were both in the chair. The two sat there for several minutes, looking into each other's eyes. Tears slowly filling Pete's as he internally realized that, at one point, he thought he would never see those magenta orbs again.

Rainbow responded by nuzzling his neck and resting her head on his shoulder. Pete wrapped his arms around her fully, hugging her tightly, and sighed with peace. He was content in this moment, a brief mental reprieve.

“I know about Pinkie, and Luna,” Dash whispered into Pete's ear.

He tensed at the words, “I can explain...”

“You don't need to,” she said calmly, nuzzling his neck again, “I understand actually.”

Pete was shocked. “You do?”

“Duh. I kinda had my eye on Pinkie too, but we were married so...” She shrugged in Pete's arms. “Luna though,” Dash chuckled and pulled back, smiling at Pete, “That's just impressive.”

Pete blushed, “I-I thought you'd be pissed...”

“Pissed? Are you kidding?! You chose me over one of the princesses, one of the GODDESSES of Equestria! Sure, you two are together now, but we're a herd so she's also kinda with me too, so it's like... I'm not mad! That's crazy! It's amazing! I actually wouldn't have thought you had it in you to snag a princess.”

Pete laughed sardonically, “Oh thanks.”

Rainbow pulled a hoof back and hit him in the shoulder, “You know what I mean!”

The day continued like that, the couple locked away in the room alone, until noon when Luna arrived for her midday check up.

“Rainbow!” She shouted opening the door to find the pair in bed, Rainbow Dash on top of Pete, the human gently preening her wings.

“Hey, Luna,” the pegasus responded, her eyes still unfocused as her mate carefully moved through her feathers.

“How long have you been awake?” Luna asked, distress clear in her voice.

“Since early this morning,” Pete replied, smoothing over Dash's wing with his palm, signaling he was done.

“And neither of you thought to come get me?”

The pair looked at each other, then simultaneously responded, “Nah.”

The regal princess slammed her face into her palm and grumbled a bit. Once the two on the bed finished giggling at her response, she stepped over and worked her magic on Rainbow. The scan came up clean, everything in place and functioning, and she withdrew from the room. Of course it was less than ten minutes later that Pinkie exploded through the door and bound into bed with the couple, wiggling her way between them like a child would her parents.

“DASHIE!” the pink mare shouted and hugged her friend.

Rainbow let out a half choked chuckle and hugged back. “Hey Pinkie,” she grunted, “Um, can't … breathe.”

“Whoopsie! Sorry about that! It's just been SOOOOOO LONG!”

“Yeah, a couple thousand years,” Dash replied, catching her breath.

With the introduction of the party pony the day's calm chatting was replaced with more uproarious talks. Pinkie suggested on at least six different occasions that there should be a party, which was declined by both Pete and Rainbow Dash. Pinkie didn't relent though until Pete brought up the news about Fluttershy and Discord, telling the pair about the plans to go find the Orb of Paradoxis the next day. Which in turn reminded Pete that he had to go speak with Spike and tell the dragon that it would be time to head off the next day.

While Pete headed off to talk to Spike, Pinkie and Rainbow went off to let the athletic pegasus stretch her wings once more. The day concluded in Pete's room as usual, but with Rainbow now added to the pile of females on his bed. Something he commented on as he laid down, Pinkie to his left, Luna his right, and Rainbow on top with her wings spread across the other two.

“This … has gotten absolutely ridiculous,” he said aloud to the group.

“Well,” Luna replied, thoughtfully, “It IS a bit strange, but you were the one that insisted I be here.”

“That … is a damn good point. Anyone care to enlighten me what I did that got me here? I could make a fortune writing a self help book that guarantees you end up with three women.”

Luna only sighed. “Few would be interested in that sort of book, considering that most herds are larger than ours. A three to one ratio of females to male isn't unheard of. Now, if there were four of us that would be something.”

Pete thought to Sunstreak and chuckled worriedly. “Yeah...”

It was midnight and most of Canterlot castle stood silent. Except for Sunstreak, who was walking the halls briskly. Her initial plan had been ruined, Pete and Rainbow Dash were back together and she knew that someone as humble as he wouldn't take yet another mare. He was already uncertain with three, he'd been worried with just the one several thousand years ago! She huffed in anger as she made her way to the entrance of the castle, ready to leave for the last time. She was done being a princess and, honestly, had no desire to return to her homeland. There was no pony waiting for her there, no family, no friends.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she practically slammed into another pony, the pair of them letting out a small shout as they fell to the ground. The stallion was a light gray, pegasus, wearing night guard armor. He stood up and offered a hoof to the former princess.

“Sorry,” he half mumbled.

“It was my fault,” she replied, taking his hoof and standing up, “I wasn't paying attention.”

The stallion only nodded at first. “Um, shouldn't you be asleep? It's kinda late...” he said after a moment.

“I was just on my way out.”

“It's a little dark to be traveling don't you think?”

“I'd rather leave under the cover of night than be shamed by tomorrow.”

“What's wrong?”

Sunstreak just shook her head. “Nothing for you to worry about,” she said sadly.

The stallion was about to respond when a shout came from down the hall. The pair of pegasi looked and saw another night guard get tossed aside, followed by Shimmering Gale coming around the corner at a full gallop, her horn ablaze with magic. When she saw Sunstreak her mind filled with anger and she fired another blast of force at the other former princess. The gray stallion moved first, however, and took the brunt of the shot in the chest, propelling them both backward into a wall. Shimmering Gale didn't have time to inspect the pair, her prison break already had enough guards following her.

Sunstreak was still in a light daze until the groans of the stallion on top of her brought her to reality. Quickly she pushed him off her and inspected him. His armor was bent in, she couldn't get it off, and there was some blood. His eyes were rolled into the back of his head and his helmet had fallen off when he moved. Panic set in. Sunstreak shouted for help, but she didn't hear any hooves close by.

“Don't die, you hear me?!” She shouted at the half conscious stallion in her hooves. “I don't even know your name, so you can't die.”

The next morning Pete was pacing the audience chamber, his dark colored magic aura in full swing as he moved. Rainbow and Pinkie sat in the corner as Celestia told him and Luna about Shimmering Gale's prison break. Several guards had been injured, a few to a near lethal point. She had been apprehended at the main gate, which closed when the sun went down, and was currently in a room where magic was dampened considerably.

“I should have killed her,” Pete growled as he paced.

“Night Breeze was one of the guards most heavily injured,” Celestia said almost detached.

Luna looked shocked, but Pete's snarl only grew.

“Fucking bitch,” he spat, positively fuming with rage.

“Pete, calm down,” Luna said sternly, “You couldn't have foreseen her escaping our dungeon. No one has done that, ever.”

“Yeah, how'd she do that exactly?”

“We apparently missed a few of her loyalists. One of which managed to sneak into the dungeon and free her,” Celestia explained. “Night Breeze was hit as Shimmering Gale made her way to the entrance. Though the blast was meant for Sunstreak.”

Pete stopped and looked up. “Sunstreak?”

Celestia nodded. “She was going to leave under cover of night, but, according to her, she bumped into Night Breeze just before Shimmering Gale appeared. Gale was aiming for Sunstreak, but Night Breeze got in the way. Sunstreak hasn't moved from his side since we put him in the infirmary.”

Pete then set off, his black smoke vanishing like the magic that it was as he did. Rainbow moved to follow him, but Luna stopped her. The mare looked up at the woman defiantly, but Luna merely shook her head. The princess had been told what had happened between Pete and Sunstreak when the man had brought the former princess in unconscious. This was something, Luna figured, that Pete needed to deal with himself. Silently, Luna amended her plan to include the white pegasus as part of their herd.

Once outside the audience chamber Pete simply teleported to the infirmary, briefly wondering how he had not blown a gasket at having to walk everywhere for two hundred years. He opened the door and found, as Celestia had said, Sunstreak, half asleep, next to Night Breeze. The gray stallion was still unconscious, but Pete's own magical investigation told him it wouldn't be much longer. His body was in a magically induced sleep, probably put in it by the doctors judging by the magic that laced through his form and mended his wounds. The captain quietly stepped forward to the blond maned pegasus' side.

“I am not moving,” she half whispered.

“I didn't come here to make you,” Pete replied.

“Why are you here?” Sunstreak asked, not looking away from Night Breeze's form.

“I came to talk about what we started up on the parapet about a week ago.”

Sunstreak laughed bitterly. “Why?”

“Because I told you that I would listen. I'm not one to casually lie about something so important.” Sunstreak remained silent. “His name is Night Breeze,” Pete said, finally getting Sunstreak to look at him, “He was born here in Canterlot. Never made any friends, to afraid that they would mock him. You see, he was always enveloped in his own sort of world... but I think it would be best if he told you the specifics.”

“Why bring it up then?”

Pete shrugged. “Maybe a light blue birdie told me about you. Maybe I remember things from being inside him.”

Sunstreak's eyes went wide, “You were...”

Pete nodded, “Night Breeze was my vessel as you were Rainbow's. And maybe, just maybe, I noticed some similarities between you and he.”

The blond pegasus looked back at the stallion, “And maybe, just maybe … I've noticed some similarities between him and you.”

“Well then,” Pete smiled, “I guess this is good bye.”

“Good bye?”

“Yeah. Me and the others are going to make a trip, and then … well, I hadn't planned on sticking around Canterlot, and I'm fairly sure the others will come with me.”

“Where will you go then?”

Pete turned around and started to leave. “Dunno, but when we get settled in, I'll send you a letter. Maybe the two of you could come visit.”

Sunstreak turned and smirked, “If we work out. Or maybe I'll come by myself.”

“Fine,” Pete laughed, “If you don't work out, that'll be just fine, but I've got a feeling about this. Celestia works in mysterious ways.”

Once Pete had left Sunstreak turned herself back to Night Breeze and continued to wait. As he walked back to the audience chamber, Pete couldn't help but draw parallels between what she was doing, and what he had just done for Dash. That was hardly where the two intersected either. It did in fact seem that Celestia moved in very mysterious ways. Assuming she could be blamed for this.

With that side trip over, Pete returned to the throne room, assured everyone that his dander had gone down, and that it was time to make the trip. Everypony going along knew what was going to happen, except Fluttershy. The shy pegasus had only been told they were going to get the Orb of Paradoxis and that it was a significant archaeological discovery. The group, consisting of Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Discord, filed out into the large garden where Spike was waiting for them. Pete's herd gave Luna a hug filled farewell, and told her they would be back shortly, as Fluttershy, Rarity, and Discord climbed onto the back of the purple dragon. Once the group was on Spike took off into the air, Discord next to the dragon's ear, directing him to their destination.

They flew towards the mountains that separated Equestria from the Crystal Empire, and about then things began to get strange. The seasons changed from freezing cold with snow, to blistering hot, to mild climates that seemed more like spring. Below then the mountains followed suit, the snow melting, flowers blooming, and then dying in the next flurry of snow. Then there came several strange bouts of turbulence, which Pete identified to the others as magical barriers being destroyed as Spike sailed through them, his draconic scales immune to the charms that protected the place. Finally, they came to a stop at the mouth of a cave that seemed like it was inside of a jungle rather than atop a frozen peak. The group dismounted and looked around.

“I'm guessing some kind of visibility barrier keeps this place from sticking out?” Pete asked no one in particular.

“On top of that there's a forgetfulness charm on the place. If you don't recognize what's happening and break the spell, you'll wander these mountains wondering what you came here for til you die,” Discord said, half sad. “Come on, the orb's in the cave.”

They followed him inside, Spike only managing to get his head inside the cave mouth, and Rarity deciding to stay back with him. In front of them was a small alter, and in the middle, the Orb of Paradoxis. It was simple, a sphere about the size of a baseball, pure silver, with a symbol carved on the front. The symbol, Pete recognized, was known as the stigmata of chaos, a sign that only those with great powers over discord could bear. The creature named Discord floated forward and removed the Orb with his claw.

“Um, now what?” Fluttershy asked, noticing that she was the only one that followed Discord to the alter.

“Fluttershy,” Discord said quietly, “We came here for this orb for a reason.” He turned around and faced the yellow pegasus, crouching onto one knee and holding the orb out to her. “When you died all those years ago I tried to tell myself that it was just … nature. There was nothing I could do, nothing I could have done, it was just to be. I spent a very long time remembering all the good things we did, but it just made it hurt more.”

“Discord...”

“I'm not done,” he said to her, placing a finger on her lips to quiet her. “You see, as I remembered those times I realized that I wanted them back. More than anything in all the world, and when I realized that I realized that I COULD have done something. This,” he held the orb up to her eyes, “With the Orb of Paradoxis, the sealed power of my father, I could have saved you. More than that … I could have made you immortal.”

Fluttershy's eyes went wide and she stepped back. “W-why?”

Discord scooted forward on his knees to follow her, “Fluttershy … I love you. Not as a friend but as more. I want you to be by my side for eternity. While you were away I almost slipped so, so many times, and it got harder with each passing day. I know that it seems like a very weak excuse, but … the orb won't just make you immortal, it will give you powers.”

“I don't really want powers...”

“I know you don't, and you won't have to use them, I promise. You won't even need them really, magical powers are just kind of a package deal with immortality. The point, however, is that the powers won't strictly be chaotic. They change depending on who they're given to.” Discord paused for a long time, and looked Fluttershy in the eyes, a slow blush creeping up on the draconequus' cheeks. “Fluttershy, I want you to marry me. More than that, I want you to literally be at my side forever. … I want you to be the harmony to my discord.”

Pete lost it at that line. The chamber echoed with laughter as he practically fell over. “'The harmony to my discord?” He shouted through his laughter.

Rarity retorted with a small rock to the human's back. “Be quiet you! That was a beautiful line!”

Rainbow trotted over to Pete. “Dude, that was cheesy, but c'mon. Laughing during a wedding proposal?”

“I couldn't help it,” Pete struggled not to laugh, “It sounds so bad.”

“And what would you have said?” Discord shouted with a brow raised.

Pete slowly stood up, “I probably would have stopped at 'marry me.'”

Rainbow raised her own eye brows. “Oh really? So then you didn't say that you wanted to 'be the wind beneath' my wings when you proposed to me?”

The man quickly turned red and averted his gaze. “Uh … c-carry on. Ignore the idiot in the peanut gallery.”

Discord sighed, and turned his attention back to Fluttershy. “What do you say? Please, say yes. I .. I can't bear to lose you again.”

Fluttershy stood still for a long time, she looked in Discord's emotion filled eyes. She knew he was telling the truth, her passing had almost ruined him. She was scared though.

“W-will it … hurt?” She asked, hiding her face behind her mane.

“Not at all, I swear.”

Now she stared at the orb. She was also scared of dying again, as anyone would be, this was a way out, but... She looked back at her friends. Immortality would mean losing them forever. Then, a thought filled her mind, a strange thought about the world. She had spent years as an element of harmony, things like balance in the world came naturally after a time. This seemingly errant thought made her realize something, every god of chaos had been alone. Paradoxis had been the definition of evil, and Discord had only sealed him away to take his father's power. Paradoxis had created Discord to not be alone, and when Discord came to power he was all alone as well. Something came to her mind, that maybe that loneliness was what made them that way. There was no physical form of harmony for them to be with, no balance to them, no one that could match their power of chaos pound for pound in the opposite element.

“I'll do it,” Fluttershy said, “I … I think you need me.” She looked at Discord, and the draconequus smiled.

“More than you could ever know.”

For a moment the orb glowed bright in Discord's claw, then the light emitted from it blinded the room. Even Spike recoiled at the intensity. When it faded away, Fluttershy was still there, seemingly unchanged. The only difference was a light glow around her that caused her to eep and flail around for a moment trying to shake it off.

“We'll work on that,” Discord said with a chuckle.

Fluttershy blushed and nodded, “Oh, okay. Umm, how long until I stop … glowing?”

Discord stroked his sliver of a beard. “That depends on how long it takes you to start controlling your powers. You don't need to use them, but if you want the glowing to stop you're going to have to learn how to suppress them.”

“A-actually, I-I think it would be best if I … learned how to … use them too... if that's okay.”

Discord laughed and smiled, “More than okay, mi amor.”

Fluttershy looked confused. “I'm not Cadence...”

Pete laughed again. “It's Spanish for 'my love.' Cadence's name was a play on words in my world. Discord, leave the fourth wall alone.”

Discord rolled his eyes and sighed. “I thank you all for being here, I'll be sure to track you all down for the wedding as well, but for now...”

There was a snap and suddenly they were all back in Canterlot, Spike included. They looked around, the sun was low in the sky so clearly it had all happened, and Fluttershy was missing from their group.

“I wouldn't worry about it darlings,” Rarity said, “They have a lot to talk about now, and Pete was being a bit rude.”

“Well he was being super cheesy!”

Pinkie bounced up onto Pete's chest, putting her hooves over his shoulders, and shouted in his face, “Did he look like cheddar to you!?”

“No, swiss.” He replied with a completely straight face.

Pinkie Pie tried to hold it in, but she failed, laughing hard and hugging the man tightly. Pete hugged her back and looked at the group. “So I was being a little out of line. I'll admit it, but can you blame me? That whole scene was just … too perfect.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Yup, I can see why I always thought Pinkie would fit in now. You're both weird.”

“Well, now that that's settled,” Rarity began, then climbed back up onto Spike. “I think it's about time we said farewell also.”

“Where are you going?” Pinkie yelled up to her.

“Rarity decide to move in with me,” Spike said, obviously a bit shy at the idea. “My cave is near a fair sized city, and with all the stuff I've got in there she'll hardly be wanting.”

“Even if you didn't have all that stuff, you'd still by my Spikey-wikey. We'd just have to work something else out. Don't worry, dears. I've got it all planned out.”

With some more good bye's to Rarity and Spike, Pete turned his attention to the two mares left with him. Taking a deep breath, he decided it was time to discuss what they would be doing.

“So, look... I have this idea.” He started out slowly.

“What sort of idea?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, I think that, considering how things are, it would be best if we didn't live right out in the open.”

“You want to do here what we did back in your world. Live in a nice place away from everyone else.”

Pete nodded. “Basically.”

“I think it's a wonderful idea.” The three turned around to see Luna stepping out onto the lawn. “I might have a little more to add to it, though not right at first. Let's go inside and we can talk it over.”

Eventually, the herd settled on Luna's idea, and they left Canterlot a week later. Pete and Luna put their magic to use in a clearing a ways away from Ponyville, which hadn't grown much in the two thousand year interval. They built a nice two story house and got furnishings from Ponyville in secret. Once everything was set up, a garden built and ready, the house finished, plumbing installed, Pete cast one last spell. Much like the one that had housed the orb of Paradoxis, it shielded their home from sight, mind, magic, and might. No one would ever think to find it, and reinforced with Luna's power, even Celestia would have a hard time finding it, even knowing where it was. Pete settled in with his new family, safe, secure, content.